There’s one big reason that Pineapple Express 2 didn’t happen, and it wasn’t because Seth Rogen and company didn’t want it to, as they’ve already explained that they had every intention to make the movie. But apparently Sony didn’t want to, and the fact that Judd Apatow and Sony quibbled over a difference of $5 million on the budget that was desired for the movie, it ended up not happening at all. $5 million sounds like a lot to quite a few of us and it is to be certain, but with the effects and the manner in which Pineapple Express was created, the budget was justified, and obviously even the proposed budget for the second movie should have been justified since the first movie was a hit. But despite this, nothing happened with it and the idea has been left to sit. There’s still a desire on the parts of Apatow, Rogen, and Franco to make the movie, but whether or not we’ll get to see it is hard to say since one thing that’s been made clear is that movies about marijuana are a hard sell now and again despite the fact that many of them have gone on to enjoy a pretty loyal fan base. Pineapple Express was a huge success and has become a cult classic according to many people, so it’s fair to say that a sequel might not do too poorly.
One thing about stoner movies, and this movie qualifies, as many folks should be able to agree, is that are popular, but their popularity kind of comes and goes given that they’re not always bound to be the biggest draw for fans. Even those fans that have made Cheech and Chong into the legends they’ve been known as, and are fully on board with calling Pineapple Express a masterpiece, might not fully agree that a sequel would do just as well as the first movie. Granted, I said it might not do poorly, but many upon many sequels, even if they do well initially, don’t tend to do as well as the original movie for many reasons. If the sequel in question attempts to do the same thing that was done in the original then it’s bound to be a flop since people don’t want more of the same that often, they want something different. But, ironically enough, if the sequel is TOO different from the original, then people might be a bit confused and not really understand what the filmmaker was going for in terms of content, so it might still be a flop. There’s a fine line that sequels kind of have to adhere to since unless they’re pushing the story forward in a new and still familiar way, they’re bound to take a lot of flak for trying to escape the boundaries of the movie that made it possible for the sequel.
The funny thing here is that a lot of people might actually say that they want this sequel to happen, but the reality of it is that a lot of folks, those outside of the business end of it, don’t know enough about what it takes to make the movie. Fans will often state what they want in a very offhanded manner since it’s a spur of the moment desire that spawns the kind of talk that people end up regretting once they see a movie that is actually based on what they wanted. Not very many directors pay that much attention to fan input, and sometimes it’s a good thing since those that might want to chime in with an idea about Pineapple Express sequel might end up taking a myriad of twisting pathways that would lead the sequel down a number of confusing roads. But while the desire to make the movie is still there, the reality is that finding someone to fund it is still kind of a problem. Those that still hold interest in seeing made, namely Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen, are hopeful that one day the movie will see the light of day, but for now, it appears that it’s not much of a going concern for anyone else.
At this time the way things are going it might be that we won’t see the sequel for a very long time considering the state of things when it comes to Hollywood and the United States in general. Things aren’t bound to get back to normal just yet, which means that filming the sequel to Pineapple Express could have taken a while anyway. But now it’s kind of obvious that the industry is still hurting a bit. Plus, getting everyone back together again might be a little difficult given that people are trying to stay as busy as possible at this time, meaning scheduling could be kind of an issue.
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