Grizzly II, Long Awaited Lost Shlock Feature, Set for January 2021 Release

Previously thought lost to time due to the years between its warts and all production and now, the long spoken about “Grizzly II” is finally, finally, finally being released. Now titled Grizzly 2: Revenge, the film’s producer Suzanne C. Nagy has secured distribution through Gravitas Ventures who have scheduled the movie for a January 8, 2021 release date, making it one of the first new movies of the new year (H/T ComingSoon.net). It was previously reported that the film would be released on streaming platforms and in drive-in theaters this fall but the new year debut confirms a slight push back in its release.

The story of Grizzly II is a long and harrowing one with the official description reading: “All hell breaks loose when a 15-ft grizzly bear, reacting to the slaughter of her cub by poachers, seeks revenge and kills anyone that gets in her way. In the 3 days before the major concert, the gigantic grizzly has brutally attacked campers, a poacher and a park ranger. The terror doesn’t end there as the giant grizzly bear finds its way to the concert grounds to go on a killing spree.”

The film also includes a star studded cast, many of whom were still fresh faces at the time of shooting including George Clooney, Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen, Louise Fletcher, Deborah Raffin, Dick Anthony Williams, and John Rhys-Davies.

One would assume that because of the title and its synopsis that there would be a bevy of bear attack sequences in the film, but that’s where the real irony of Grizzly II lives as only seconds of screen time was originally shot for the project despite multiple animatronic bears being created. Production on the cheap thrill was set to begin in 1983 in Hungary but things quickly went awry as a giant write up in The Ringer previously reported.

“The principal photography started on Monday. We had 45 days to finish the film,” Nagy recounted on the film’s official website. “Everything was mapped out. Sunday was a break. Everybody relaxed when the call came to my home. My partner from Chicago was looking for my husband who was not in the film business and asked him to come to the InterContinental Hotel. When he returned he was pale and devastated.”

“I asked him, ‘What is wrong?’ And he replied, ‘Joe, your partner, is leaving Hungary. If you want to save the movie, you do what you need to do. He is leaving in half an hour because there is no money for the production.’ I thought this was a joke, but then I realized, I was left alone with 300 members of the film crew from 4 countries.”

You can watch the official trailer for Grizzly II below which is presented along with the film’s poster.