J.J. Abramshas made a name for himself in Hollywood by successfully rebooting dormant franchises. Before turningStar Wars: The Force Awakensinto a blockbuster phenomenon, he also relaunchedStar Trekas a viable commodity and helped getMission: Impossibleback on the right track. But before any of those happened, he almost had a hand in resurrectingRoger Rabbitfor the big screen.
J.J. Abramsrecently appeared on the Nerdist Podcast to discuss his latest producing endeavor,10 Cloverfield Lane. During the interview, the filmmaker recalled a time when he actually met with originalWho Framed Roger Rabbit?producerSteven Spielbergto discussRoger Rabbit 2. It actually turned out to be the first time he ever met with the man behind such classics asJawsandClose Encounters of the Third Kind. He explains.
“I’ve told this story before, but when I was 16, [Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy called [director] Matt Reeves and I, to ask if we would repair these 8mm films Steven had made when he was a kid. And it happened because we were in a film festival and she read about us in the LA Times. So we, of course, said yes and did the repairs. Years later I got to meet Steven. Jill Mazursky and I went into a meeting - actually, it was for aRoger Rabbit sequel. It was a whole thing. I actually have some storyboards for a Roger Rabbit short. It’s a whole thing.”
What does he mean by a ‘whole thing’? Did he have a story flushed out? Was it about to go into production? Would he have directed, or only written the screenplay? Guess we’ll never know. Despite the filmmaker taking meetings forWho Framed Roger Rabbit 2, the sequel never got very far off the ground. He goes onto say this about the sequel.
“We were writing an outline, but it honestly went away before it was anything. This was a long time ago. It was the first time I had met Steven.”
If Roger Rabbit 2 had of moved forward, originalWho Framed Roger Rabbit?directorRobert Zemeckiswould have served as a producer. Back in 2012,Robert Zemeckisrevealed that a script for Roger Rabbit 2 actually exists at Disney.Rob Minkoff, who directed the recent big screen rebootMr. Peabody and ShermanforDreamWorks Animation, claimed he’d been hired to direct the animation portion ofWho Framed Roger Rabbit 2just a few years ago. But we haven’t heard anything about a possible sequel since then.
