Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s Wolfs director reveals he cancelled sequel as he no longer ‘trusted’ Apple

The Wolves director has revealed why Brad Pitt and George Clooney won’t be reuniting anytime soon for a sequel to the hit Apple TV+ film.

Jon Watts revealed that it was his decision – and not Apple’s – to pull the plug on the star-studded sequel, which had become the most-watched film ever released on the streaming platform.

“The truth is, Apple didn’t cancel the Wolves sequel, I did that because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner,” Watts said. Term on Saturday.

The drama, according to Watts, began when Apple unexpectedly changed the film’s release strategy, switching from a full theatrical release to a limited release before quickly moving the $200 million film to streaming – something Watts described as a “total surprise” .

“I was completely shocked and asked them to please not mention that I was writing a sequel,” he continued. “They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to put a positive spin on their streaming pivot.”

Fed up with the situation, Watts said he “quietly returned the money Apple gave him for the sequel.”

Jon Watts revealed that it was his decision – and not Apple’s – to pull the plug on the star-studded sequel, which had become the most-watched film ever released on the streaming platform.

“I didn’t want to talk about it because I was proud of the film and didn’t want to generate unnecessary negative press,” he added.

“I loved working with Brad and George (and Amy and Austin and Poorna and Zlatko) and would love to do it again. But the truth is, Apple didn’t cancel the Wolf sequel, I did because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner.”

The film was optioned for a sequel three months ago, weeks before its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

It was revealed by THR In August, Wolfs director/screenwriter Watts had inked a new deal with Apple for a sequel to the upcoming action comedy.

Deadline confirmed at the time that Pitt and Clooney will reprise their roles for the follow-up project.

As part of the big announcement, it was also revealed that Wolfs will premiere on Apple TV+ on September 27, following a limited one-week theatrical release via Sony.

Wolfs was originally intended transitioning from a wide theatrical release before debuting on Apple TV+, but those plans had changed.

Pitt and Clooney were reportedly paid $35 million each to appear in the caper film, and had pushed for a theatrical release.

“The truth is, Apple didn’t cancel the Wolves sequel, I did that because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner,” Watts told Deadline on Saturday.

The drama, according to Watts, began when Apple unexpectedly changed the film’s release strategy, switching from a full theatrical release to a limited release before quickly moving the $200 million film to streaming – something Watts described as a “total surprise” ; (seen in September)

But makers Apple have changed their minds and the film, which insiders say cost around $200 million all together, is now only a week away from being released in US cinemas.

In all other territories, the film is going straight to streaming, making it easily the most expensive TV movie ever made.

Apple’s change of heart follows a string of expensive films made by the streamer – including Napoleon, Killers of the Flower Moon and Argylle – all of which flopped at the box office.

Clooney denied that their fees were as much as $35 million, saying the actual amount was “many, many millions” below that figure.

But he added that it was “a bummer” the way it had gone.

He said, “We would have liked that, we wanted that, and Brad and I gave back part of our salary for that. We’ve had some bumps along the way, and that happens.

“It sucks, of course it sucks, but a lot of people are going to see the film and we’re going to get a release in a few hundred theaters. It would have been nice to get a wider release.’

He said the economics of streaming are still being “figured out,” but added: “We are figuring it out. We need Apple and Amazon, and they need Sony or Warners, who have been doing this for a hundred years.”

Upon the original film’s release, the The buddy cop feature was eviscerated by critics, who called it a “messy” one-star dud and an “excruciating comedy.”

Wolfs follows the two co-stars of Ocean’s Eleven as they are reluctantly forced to work together to solve a problem that arises when a tough-as-nails prosecutor wakes up to a dead twenty-something woman she had a night with. scaffolding.

But critics say the film – which had a record budget for any streaming film – is falling flat IGN’s Siddhant Adlakha slams it’s a ‘slick student film by a rich teenager who lived off the media diet of early Guy Ritchie.’

Xan Brooks from The Guardian also wrote that the “joke might actually be about” director Jon Watts, who made a fortune with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man trilogy, “because what he created is basically the movie of the meme where two Spideys point at each other .’

Pitt and Clooney were reportedly paid $35 million each to appear in the caper film, and had pushed for a theatrical release, but it was ultimately released on the AppleTV+ streaming service; the two arrive for the Venice Film Festival premiere in September

And The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin called the film “messy.”

He wrote: “George Clooney recently complained that Quentin Tarantino doesn’t consider him a movie star. If he makes more films like this, Clooney will soon prove Tarantino right.”

Adlakha writes that the problems with the film, which premiered in Venice on Sunday evening, “arise early and often.”

He and the other critics say Watts seemed to have relied on the stardom of Clooney and Pitt to make it a blockbuster, with a lackluster plot and a “half-baked script with little humor or heart.”