Spider-Man Director’s Apple TV+ Movie Not Getting Sequel (Despite Initial Greenlight)

The planned sequel to director Jon Watts’ action-comedy Wolfs is no longer happening. During an interview with Collider, the filmmaker cast doubt on the follow-up — a development that was later confirmed by Deadline. No reason for the movie’s cancellation was given.

“I don’t know what I’m directing next, and I don’t think there’s going to be a Wolfs sequel,” Watts told Collider.

Starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, Wolfs follows two lone fixers who are forced to work together to complete a high-stakes job. Initially, Apple TV+ intended to give the film a wide theatrical release, but later changed the strategy to a limited run. After premiering at the Venice Film Festival, Wolfs played on the big screen for one week in late September before arriving on streaming on September 27. The movie earned generally positive reviews, with most of the praise being directed toward Clooney and Pitt’s natural chemistry with each other.

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Back in August, well before Wolfs released, a sequel was announced. Apple seemed excited about the prospect of turning the caper into a franchise, teasing that Wolfs would “leave audiences ready for what’s next.” This makes the decision to reverse course curious, especially considering Wolfs quickly became Apple TV+’s most-watched movie of all time.

Based on that fact, it’s safe to say the choice to scrap Wolfs 2 wasn’t performance-based. It’s clear viewers were interested in the original film and likely would have been game to see Pitt and Clooney reunite for another installment. While Wolfs received some criticism for its underwhelming plot, watching the two stars play off each other is always entertaining, and it would have been fun to see how the creative team could have improved upon the foundation established in the first movie. Perhaps Wolfs 2 isn’t moving forward because Watts would rather make another new idea instead of playing in the same sandbox again. Part of why he stepped away from Marvel after three Spider-Man movies is because he wanted to tap back into his own voice and style, and he likely has other concepts he’d like to explore.

It will be interesting to see what Watts helms next. He’s kept himself very busy over the past several years; in addition to the Spider-Man trilogy and Wolfs, he also co-created the Star Wars series Skeleton Crew, directing two of the eight episodes. Watts has more than earned the right to take a bit of a break to recharge his batteries as he figures out where he wants to go from here. And given his track record, there will be an appetite for whatever he has in mind.