Apparently, nothing can hold Constantin Film down. Horrible reviews, a weak opening and poor box office numbers, not to mention a truly terrible movie, haven’t deterred the studio from greenlighting a sequel to The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Titled, The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes, the film will head into production in 2014.
If you recall, Constantin actually gave the sequel the go ahead before the first film even opened. Then, when they saw the theatrical reception that The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones received, they pulled the plug on it. Now, it looks like they’ve changed their mind again, thanks to all you fanboys. Or should I say, fangals?
“The fan response, from the blogosphere and the thousands of mails we have received, has encouraged us to keep going,” Constantin’s Martin Moszkowicz told THR “It’s been overwhelmingly positive, in contrast to some other YA titles.”
Frankly, I find this quote to be pretty amusing. Even if Moszkowicz is correct about all this supposed fan response that they’ve been receiving, I have to ask, why didn’t these so called “fans” show up to theatres for the first film? $80 million at the worldwide box office is not a lot for a movie like The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, especially seeing as the studio thought they had another Hunger Games on their hands.
Now, in all fairness, it does seem that the studio wants to right their wrongs and improve things with the sequel.
“We are analyzing what we did wrong with the first film, particularly with the positioning and marketing, and what changes we have to make,” Moszkowicz explained. “We are working with a great group of people to reposition the franchise.”
Whether they’re able to turn things around or not remains to be seen but as of now, I don’t have much hope as the first film bombed pretty hard. Plus, the YA market is only going to get more crowded, with new properties like Divergent and The Maze Runner arriving next year. Is there really room for another Mortal Instruments film?
What do you think? Would you pay to see The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes?