MOVIE NEWS – James McAvoy has shared his thoughts on why the much-anticipated sequel to his action hit Wanted has never come to fruition, suggesting that he may now be too old to play Wesley. In an era when action stars are aging — looking at you, Tom “62 and still jumping out of planes” Cruise — McAvoy, at 45, seems relatively young. Yet, he believes roles like Wesley are now “meant for younger actors.”

Wanted, based on the comic book miniseries by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones, tells the story of Wesley Allan Gibson, a regular office worker who discovers his father was part of a secret society of assassins. McAvoy starred alongside Hollywood greats like Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Terence Stamp, and Chris Pratt, propelling the movie to a box office total of $342 million against its $75 million budget. This immediate success led to plans for a sequel, but it never came to pass. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, McAvoy discussed the challenges that have stalled a sequel for so long that it now seems unlikely to happen.

“There were a couple of scripts that came my way for sequels, but they weren’t strong enough, so that’s why they never happened. If there was a script there that was absolutely fantastic, then, yeah, I’d be disappointed. But we made something that I’m really proud of. Timur [Bekmambetov] was really proud of it. The studio was really proud of it. Everybody was excited by it, and it has stood the test of time a bit. It’s always on streaming, and people are always watching it. I still get so much love for it from young people who weren’t alive back then. So I’m proud of what we did, and I wouldn’t want to tarnish it by doing something that was not quite as strong. And look, I’m too old to play Wesley now. It’s a young person’s role.”

Could a Wanted Sequel Still Happen?

Despite McAvoy’s doubts about reprising his role as Wesley after 16 years, the trend of actors returning to old roles has been profitable — just look at Michael Keaton’s recent box office success as Beetlejuice. Action movies have always drawn crowds, so the mix of nostalgia and a beloved genre could be a winning combination.

Previously, McAvoy has hinted that he would be open to seeing Wanted take new directions. In 2012, he told IGN that a sequel could happen, but it wasn’t something he felt compelled to pursue. He also suggested that a reboot with a fresh cast could be a better choice. He said:

“The reason I did the first film was because I thought it was a really good acting role, and no matter whether it made lots of money or ultimately was a good action movie, I knew I’d have a good time doing it as an actor. I would hope that would be the case in the second one. My worry was always that if we do a sequel, where is the character going to go? We hung our movie off this guy’s life journey, and he’s had that life journey now, so what do you hang the movie off? Maybe they’ll do it in the future with a whole new kid – a new lead character. And the premise of the Wanted movies is how becoming an assassin changed my life.”

Source: MovieWeb