As he branches out from the world of horror, Mike Flanagan offers a cautiously optimistic update for Oculus 2. The 2014 horror movie served as Flanagan’s first wide release and an adaptation of his short film Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the PlanCentered on Karen Gillan’s Kaylie and Brenton Thwaites’ team confronting the literal demons of their past in the form of a haunted mirror that led to the death of their parents. The film was an early step in Flanagan’s eventually successful career, receiving largely positive reviews and earning nine times its budget.
While talking with Screen Rant For the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of his new movie, The life of ChuckFlanagan was asked about the possibility of Oculus 2 Event. The writer/director confirmed he has “A lot of stories“In the universe that he would”Love to tell“Although noted that the biggest hurdle facing development on a sequel is determining who owns the rights to the original. See what Flanagan explains below:
Oh, I don’t know. We would have to unlock who owns Oculus 2. I think that would be the thing. I don’t know what the right situation is for that. All that said, though, there have always been a lot of stories I’d like to tell. Working with Karen is always phenomenal. I’m so glad I got to do it again, even though I don’t know how to bring her back into the Oculus world without bringing her back from the dead. But Annalize Basso, also in this, is from Oculus. It’s very cool.
What this means for Oculus 2’s chances
Half of the studios of the original movie went in different directions
To Flanagan’s point, the right situation around the original Oculus has been in a somewhat obscure place in the decade since the movie came out. The 2014 film was distributed to US theaters by Relativity Media, A brand that has since fallen into turmoil following their bankruptcy filing in 2018. Further complicating matters is that for its home release, 20th Century Fox released the movie in the US. it. and several other territories, while Warner Home Video released it in the United Kingdom and Universal Studios Home Entertainment in Canada.
In addition to the studios that distributed the film, Oculus also had multiple producers behind it, including Blumhouse Productions, Trevor Macy’s Intrepid Pictures, the now-dormant MICA Entertainment and WWE Studios. Flanagan’s relationship has remained solid with Blumhouse in the decade sinceIncluding his upcoming return for the next one Exorcist movie, although WWE Studios has largely moved away from feature-length efforts, as such if they have any rights to the original, it could complicate Oculus 2s sooner.
How likely is Oculus 2 to actually happen?
Flanagan has a pretty complete dance card at the moment
Beyond the right situation, however, the other main hurdle facing Oculus 2It’s more likely the fact that Flanagan has quite a full docket of projects coming up. like The life of Chuck Awaiting a wide release date after its TIFF premiere, the writer/director is gradually putting together his TV adaptation of King’s Dark Tower Novel franchise, often discussed the mammoth scale he envisions for the show, indicating several seasons worth of stories in mind for it. He also has the aforementioned Exorcist Movie at Blumhouse, which is set for a March 2026 release date.
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While a push from fans of the original Oculus Could inspire Flanagan to revisit his breakout horror universe in the future, it seems more likely that the 2014 movie will remain a standalone title. The filmmaker has yet to transfer the rights to his property to any other creatives, making it unlikely that he would do so for Oculus. Plus, with a decade gone since the first movie released, general audience interest may no longer be there for a sequel.