Earlier this year, Escape Room‘s blend of genuine thrills and creative story twists ended up making it a surprising success, taking in more than $115 million worldwide on a reported budget of less than $10 million. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the film will be getting a sequel, with original director Adam Robitel signed on to helm.
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In the original film, a group of strangers participates in an escape room challenge in hopes of winning a $10,000 prize. Once the game begins, the strangers realize there’s much more at stake than prize money, as they’ve put their lives on the line in the various challenges which come with fatal consequences.
The upcoming sequel is slated to land in theaters on April 17, 2020.
Various elements of the narrative felt similar to horror predecessors like Saw and Cube, yet the PG-13 rating resulted in an emphasis on the narrative over gruesome special effects. Additionally, the PG-13 rating likely allowed more audiences to check out the compelling experience, a release strategy which the sequel will likely embrace.
With escape rooms growing in popularity across the country, it could be assumed that the horrifying narrative would scare participants away from the puzzles. Seth Wolfson, Creative Director and Game Designer at Hourglass Escapes in Seattle, Washington, on the other hand, noted that watching the film accurately recreated an experience similar to what guests have in store for them at an escape room.
“There are a few puzzles you can solve as an audience member,” Wolfson divulged to ComicBook.com. “And that was fun, because we all were like, whispering [the answers to one another]. That put us in the movie in a different way, and gave us a little win, in our heads. Little things like that, was probably some of the genius moments in the movie, for the escape room people, and just people in general, because now they felt like they were the smartest person in the movie theater.”
He added, “And you’re thinking nobody else was going to get that, in this movie theater. I didn’t hear anybody saying it. Everybody’s just quietly [guessing], which is great. That was some of the stuff they got right. I think they got as much right as they could, in a lot of places, with doing that kind of movie.”
Stay tuned for details on Escape Room 2 before its April 17, 2020 release.
Are you looking forward to checking out a sequel? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
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