Leigh Whannell is poised to become a much bigger name with the arrival of The Invisible Man this weekend. And with that, more attention has been brought to his previous work on the Saw films, Insidious Chapter 3, and his 2018 cyberpunk horror, Upgrade. That last film, in particular, became something of a cult favorite, it’s certainly one of mine, and its fans have been asking about plans for a sequel. At least according to Whannell when speaking with Fandom, he’s open to it, but uncertain it’s necessary…
“A sequel is a champagne problem created by the success of a movie. So Hollywood economics dictates whether there’s going to be a sequel, and ‘Upgrade’… I wouldn’t exactly call it a monster hit. I’d call it a cult hit, and cult hits, when they look at the books of cult hits, they’re like ‘Nyah, sequel’. So we’ll see. I loved making that film, so I’d love to do it with a bit more money.”
Upgrade was produced by the folks at Blumhouse, with a characteristically low $3M budget. The film went on to earn $16M, which is on the low end for them. That said, producer Jason Blum is into making it happen, and sounding more enthusiastic about it than Whannell…
“I would love an ‘Upgrade’ sequel. I will say that we haven’t put it to bed yet. We have no immediate plans, but ‘Upgrade’ is very much on my mind — and on Leigh’s mind as well.”
I’ve often referred to Upgrade as the poor man’s Venom, trading the idea of an alien symbiote for an artificial intelligence with a violent streak. The movie is wild and deserving of being discovered by a larger audience.
