Sequel Bits: I Am Legend 2, Men in Black 3, Mad Max 4, A Good Day to Die Hard, Percy Jackson, E.T. 2, Breaking Dawn Part 2, Amazing Spider-Man 2

Article from /Film

Lots of fun odds and ends in today’s Sequel Bits. After the jump:

Early posters for A Good Day to Die Hardand Percy Jacksonhit the Licensing Expo
Men in Black 3 concept art reveals a (slightly) alternate design for the monowheels
Charlize Theron‘s role in Mad Max: Fury Road apparently requires her to have really short hair
A handful of new stills show Bella and Edward’s kid in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is in the process of being written, says producer Alex Kurtzman
Will Smith is iffy on doing on I Am Legend 2 because he doesn’t want to be “the sequel guy”
Did you know there was almost a sequel to E.T.? Steven Spielberg explains why it didn’t happen.

The ongoing Licensing Expo is supplying us with all sorts of early teases this week. Coming Soon has snapped photos of early promo art for both A Good Day to Die Hard and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Actually, the A Good Day to Die Hard poster they’re using now is just the Live Free or Die Hard poster with a generically Russian background Photoshopped into it. I think the Percy Jackson one might be legitimately new, though.

Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters - Licensing Expo poster

A Good Day to Die Hard - Licensing Expo poster

Both projects are filming now, with A Good Day to Die Hard scheduled to open February 14, 2013 and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters set for August 16, 2013. [via CBM]

Still more Men in Black 3 concept art has dropped, this time via artist Vance Kovacs. The drawings show the designs of the Agents’ monowheels and Boris the Animal’s motorbike. Apparently at one point, the monowheels were going to be stored in a briefcase instead of under young K’s car.

Men in Black 3 - Monowheel concept art 2

Men in Black 3 - Monowheel concept art 1

Men in Black 3 - Boris motorbike concept art

Hilariously, Comic Book Movie points out that the design they eventually went with has K pulling one out from under his car, while the other just appears out of thin air. Just one of about a million inconsistencies in this fun but dumb sequel.

After years of reporting, there’s still a lot we don’t know about Mad Max: Fury Road. But one thing we have learned recently is that it’s requiring star Charlize Theron to chop off her long blonde locks. The actress was spotted walking around this week with a post-apocalyptic new haircut.

Since she’s sporting a fedora, we unfortunately can’t see exactly what her Fury Road ‘do looks like. We’ll probably get a better glimpse soon enough. Theron has previously said that Mad Max will begin shooting in Namibia in July. [DListed via Screen Crush]

While the character of Renesmee Cullen isn’t technically new to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, since she was born in Breaking Dawn Part 1, she appears in a much different form in the next installment than she did in the last one. Something to do with vampire kids aging super-fast. So these photos of actress Mackenzie Foy are the first we’re getting of the older Renesmee, with parents Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella Cullen (Kristen Stewart).

The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn - Renesmee 4

The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn - Renesmee 3

The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn - Renesmee 2

The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn - Renesmee 1

Cute kid! Which should come as a relief to Jacob (Taylor Lautner), since this is his eternal soul mate and all. Breaking Dawn Part 2 opens November 16, closing out the ultra-lucrative Twilight Saga. [via Cinema Blend]

The Amazing Spider-Man still hasn’t hit theaters, but planning on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 began a long time ago. A 2014 release date was set last summer — a year before the first film would even make it to theaters — and producer Alex Kurtzman confirms it continues to actively be developed. “We’re in the middle of writing the next one,” he offered during an interview about The Amazing Spider-Man 1.

Unsurprisingly, Kurtzman declined to give away any other details, even when asked directly about one potential future villain alluded to in the current movie, or the possible death of a major character. “I cant really talk about it,” he said.The Amazing Spider-Man will open July 3, while The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is penciled in for May 2, 2014. [Movies.com]

While Warner Bros. is definitely interested in an I Am Legend 2, star Will Smith isn’t so sure. Back in February, Deadline reported that Smith wouldn’t commit until he saw a script, and he’s sticking by that stance. “Producers are working on it,” he told EURweb.com. “I’m not actually working on it. If it’s great, I’m into it.” When the interviewer asked whether he might get involved, Smith admitted, “Probably not.”

His reasoning, however, is a little weird. “I don’t want to be the sequel guy,” said the guy just starred in Men in Black 3 and wants to star in Hancock 2. Instead, he wants to devote himself to doing more (non-sequel, I guess?) action movies. “I figure Ive got about six or seven more years where I can run and jump a little bit and then Im going butt and gut for the rest of my career. Butt and gut.” [via The Film Stage]

Much as we like to grumble about Hollywood churning out too many sequels these days, the business impulse to milk as much as possible out of a beloved film isn’t new. In the ’80s, Steven Spielberg and Melissa Mathison wrote a treatment for a sequel to Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which never got off the ground. In a recent talk at the American Film Institute, the famed filmmaker explained why not.

“Sequels can be very dangerous because they compromise your truth as an artist,” he said. “I think a sequel to E.T. would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity. People only remember the latest episode, while the pilot tarnishes.” And based on the 9-page E.T.: Nocturnal Fears pitch you can read online, which involves “EVIL” aliens, a foreign planet war, kidnapping and a violent interrogation, and other dark twists, it seems Spielberg was smart to steer clear. Head to Hollywood.com for more insight on the E.T. sequel that never was.