The sci-fi horror classicThe Flyis getting a follow-up, and from what’s known about it so far, it could be the closest we get to David Cronenberg’s canceled follow-up project. Few sci-fi movies have had the impact that David Cronenberg’s 1986The Flyhad. Loosely based on George Langelaan’s 1957 short story of the same name and the 1958 film adaptation of it,The Flyintroduced the world to Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), an eccentric but brilliant scientist working on a secret project. When he meets science journalist Ronnie Quaife (Geena Davis), Seth shows her his invention: telepods for teleportation.
Seth decides to test the telepods himself, but he doesn’t know there is a housefly inside one of the pods. What follows isSeth’s gradual and shocking transformation into a human/fly hybrid, as Ronnie witnesses how he slowly loses his humanity.The Flywas a critical and commercial success, and it even won the Academy Award for Best Makeup in 1987. Despite its success, Cronenberg never made a sequel, though there was one in 1989.The Flyis now getting a follow-up after all these years, and it might be the closest there will be to Cronenberg’s canceled project.
The Fly Is Getting A New Movie (But It’s Not A Sequel)
The World Of The Fly Will Expand Again
The ending ofThe Flyleft the door semi-open to a continuation, though it wasn’t really necessary. At the end ofThe Fly, Seth fully transforms, and after trying to fuse himself with Ronnie, he ends up fused with the metal door and cabling of the pod. The creature silently begs Ronnie to end his suffering and she shoots him – however, Ronnie is pregnant with Seth’s child, so their fate is left unknown.The Fly IItook advantage of Ronnie’s pregnancyand told the story of her and Seth’s son, Martin (Eric Stoltz).
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However,The Fly IIlacked the quality (in everything) of the original movieand was a critical failure, with a 33% critics score onRotten Tomatoes. Now, the world ofThe Flyis coming back to life over 30 years after the release ofThe Fly IIwith a follow-up, but not a sequel. According toDeadline,the newThe Flymovie will be written and directed by Nikyatu Jusu, but it’sa project based on Cronenberg’s movie and not a sequel, meaning it’s an original story set in the same world as Cronenberg’sThe Fly.
The critical and commercial success ofThe Substanceproved there’s still an audience for body horror.
At the time of writing, no plot details have been revealed about Jusu’sThe Fly, butit shouldn’t come as a big surprise given the recent resurgence of body horror. The critical and commercial success ofThe Substanceproved there’s still an audience for body horror and viewers are welcoming of different stories in this genre, andThe Flyhas plenty of material to use in the world of body horror.
David Cronenberg Was Working On A Follow-Up To The Fly (Also Not A Sequel)
The Fly IIis the only movie related to Cronenberg’s film that was made, but there are others that were ultimately canceled. Among them is a follow-up developed by Cronenberg, but as he has said that his movies have definitive endings and thus he doesn’t make sequels, this project wasn’t a sequel toThe Fly. In 2011,Cronenberg said that what he wrote was more of an “oblique sequel”than a true one, and the following year, he said his idea had been turned down before for not being a sequel (viaEmpire).
However, the project came across some obstacles, which Cronenberg described as “budget constraints and other things”, though he also added that his script might have been too radical for the studio (viaDigitalSpy). Ultimately,Cronenberg’sThe Flyfollow-up never happened and he didn’t share details about the story, either, but knowing he thought of it as a “sidebar” and not a sequel sounds like what Jusu is about to make with her movie.
How The New The Fly Movie Can Be Its Own Thing But Still Part Of This Universe
The World Of The Fly Might Be Richer Than It Seems
Being set in the same universe as Cronenberg’sThe Flydoesn’t mean that the new movie has to bring surviving characters back or link new characters to the ones in the original movie. Instead,it gives the newThe Flymovie a very interesting world where teleportation was once real. Modern technology can be used to show that, no matter how much technology has evolved, there are some ideas that are a lot better on paper than in practice, as is teleportation.
The newThe Flycan stay true to the world of David Cronenberg’s movie with its special effectsand the main character’s transformation, which will be what ultimately makes it feel a part of this specific universe. It’s to be seen what the newThe Flywill be about and how different it will be from the original movie, as well as if David Cronenberg will be involved in it or not.
Sources:Deadline,Empire,DigitalSpy.
The Fly
The Fly follows scientist Seth Brundle as he makes a groundbreaking teleportation experiment. During testing, he inadvertently merges with a housefly, leading to unforeseen consequences.
