Summary
Director Mike Mitchell is opening up about every key detail from the canceledSky Highsequel. The original movie was released in 2005 and followed the adventures of a group of students at a high school for superheroes. It was relatively successful, having earned $86.4 million on a budget of $35 million. In 2016, Disney announced plans to produce a sequel, but there have been few new developments in the years since. Unfortunately,Sky High 2simply never happened.
In an interview withComicBook.comto promoteKung Fu Panda 4, Mitchell spoke sparingly about the potential story and the cast members forSky High 2.The original students would have returned as teachers, and the narrative would have involved a college for superheroes. Other cast members, including Mary Elizabeth Winsted and Kurt Russell would also have returned. Check out his full quote below:
“All the original kids would be back again, including Cousin Greg [Nicholas Braun]. That was one of his first films. Mary Elizabeth Winsted as Royal Pain, Kurt Russell would have to be back as well. We figured all the kids are now grown up and they’re all university teachers at a place called Save U. You just take all that fun and we bring it from the high school into the college years. It would be such a blast.”
Why Was Sky High 2 Never Made?
Is There Still A Chance Sky High 2 Can Be Produced?
The budget is a major reason for the slow development ofSky High 2. TheSky Highcast includes many names who would go on to become major faces in Hollywood.Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s horror movies, for instance, are now incredibly prominent in theaters, as she has gone on to star in10 Cloverfield Lane,Final Destination 3, and countless other movies. Kurt Russell and Nicholas Braun are also prominent actors and would likely demand a sizable cut of the budget themselves. In addition to the CGI expenditure and the opportunity costs,Sky High 2would be an expensive project.
Besides, the idea of a sequel toSky Highwas already 11 years late when it was announced in 2016, and the years since have only seen more distance from the original. Nostalgic viewers are quickly growing out of the target audience, leaving little space for the sequel. The prominence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is another Disney product, has also replaced Mitchell’s world. If it hopes to produce a school-based superhero movie,Disney can put that budget into the MCU-basedX-Men, which will have a far greater return on investment.
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Should there ever be a flood of attention toSky Highon Disney+, Disney could consider developing a sequel. As it stands, putting that attention to more popular properties is the choice that Disney found most alluring. Those searching for school-based superheroes will have to look to the existing FoxX-Menmovies or to Prime Video’sGen V, which is hardly as appropriate for children and families asSky Highis.Sky High 2could have revived the franchise, but development has simply stalled.
Sky High
Cast
Sky High is a 2005 comedy that follows the son of two famous superheroes as he attends a high school for student heroes. Michael Angarano stars alongside Danielle Panabaker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kurt Russell, and Kelly Preston, with appearances by Bruce Campbell and Lynda Carter.
