Tom Hanks reflected on abandoned plans for a sequel to his multiple Academy Award-winning film, Forest Gump. Following the commercial and critical success of the original, there were many calls for a sequel, with original book author Winston Groom writing his own sequel, Gump and company.with original screenwriter Eric Roth also writing a script based on it in 2001. The following years saw the project die in development hell, initially due to the attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as a general lack of interest from Hanks and the director Robert Zemeckis when making the Forest Gump sequence.
When appearing on ReelBlend Podcast to promote his and Zemeckis’ latest film, HereHanks spoke about the discussions he once had about his potential return as Forrest Gump. Admitting he met with Roth and Zemeckis after the studio boldly promised “pull a dump truck” to their homes full of money, the trio We briefly discussed the possibilities of how the sequence could be. Ultimately, however, it wasdecided that a sequel remained unnecessary due to the proper conclusion of the first film and that it was “will never happen.” Check out his comments below:
Well, Winston Groom wrote another version, but his first book was very different for a while. It was a great interpretation and, in fact, there was a version of a second [movie]. Eric Roth, Bob and I got together and Eric kind of mapped out what the second one could be.
The studio actually said, “What, are you guys allergic to money?” That’s one of the things they said. “What, you don’t want us to pull a dump truck up to your house and unload nickels, dimes, nickels?” I said, “Okay, well, we don’t know what it’s going to be.” So we got together and talked about the possibilities of what they could be, and here’s what we could do. We could come up with a story, we could come up with a plot, we could come up with things that happen to the characters, we could come up with something that works, but that was the only meeting we had about it.
Because when we finished, we just said, “This is still unnecessary. Why would we try to continue a story that has reached its full and proper conclusion?” So yes, said, it will never happen.
The Original Books Could Potentially Inform a New Reboot
Over the years, Hollywood studios have pushed for a number of sequels that were deemed unnecessary. Often influenced by the financial promise resulting from capitalizing on the success of the original films, countless sequels were rushed into development without ever seeing a finished product. For many, however, the idea of a non-existent sequel is a much better option than a subpar product this could potentially reflect poorly on the first film that inspired it.
As such, many fans of the original Forest Gump will probably take comfort in Hanks’ assertion that a sequel to his own film will never happen. However, just because Hanks and Zemeckis aren’t interested in revisiting the character doesn’t necessarily mean that all future adaptations will be completely sidelined. Just as Hanks himself points out, Groom’s Originals Forest Gump novel contains several important differences to the film adaptation, and studios may eventually pursue a full reboot more in line with the source material.
Our Take on a Possible Forrest Gump Reboot
The film has already had a reboot
Although the very idea of restarting Forest Gump may provoke a strong and largely negative reaction among many of the film’s original fans, the fact is that Hanks’ iconic film has already been remade once. Released in 2022, Indian Hindi language Laal Singh Chadha is itself a direct remake of the 1995 Hanks film, with Aamir Khan taking on the film’s titular role.
While English-speaking audiences may not be familiar with this particular reboot, the precedent set by Laal Singh Chadha could prompt Hollywood studios to take another look at Groom’s original books. It remains to be seen whether such plans would meet the same fate as a Hanks-led sequel, but a film more based on both Forest Gump and Gump and company. could potentially provide a new Forest Gump reboot with a point of difference large enough to justify its existence.
Source: ReelBlend Podcast