Wet Hot American Summer Getting a Prequel/Sequel?
Posted 02.10.12 by Ryan
The 2001 comedy Wet Hot American Summer wasn't exactly a blockbuster at the box office, earning only $295,206 in limited release. Nevertheless, Wet Hot American Summer has amassed a huge cult following over the years, holding an 85% approval rating on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes — with some fans considering it to be one of the best comedies of the decade, if not of all time.
Written by The State alumni Michael Showalter and David Wain, who also directed, Wet Hot American Summer is an irreverent and hilarious look at the summer camp movie genre filled with soon-to-be-movie-stars like Paul Rudd (who worked with Wain again on Role Models and ), Elizabeth Banks (Our Idiot Brother, the upcoming Hunger Games), and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, The Hangover Part II), in what was his first movie role.
Rudd, Banks, Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU), Janeane Garofalo (Ratatouille), and David Hyde Pierce (Fraser) revealed to Entertainment Weekly last summer that they would all be willing to return for a sequel, with Rudd admitting that a sequel or prequel has "been discussed over the last decade in various forms and incarnations" and that the cast "would all be up for doing it." Speaking on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live (via The Playlist), Showalter recently claimed that a sequel will "absolutely" happen.
"Yes, 100 percent yes. The whole gang, everyone's doing it," Showalter revealed. Before fans get too excited, though, Wet Hot American Summer co-star, and fellow State alumni, Michael Ian Black told EW yesterday that a sequel isn't a done deal yet.
I’ve just talked to [Showalter]. I said, "You caused a little bit of a stir when you said that." He said, "Yes, I know." It’s not true. It’s not not true. But he made it sound like the movie was in pre-production and it’s not. Everybody is basically on board to do it and he and David Wain have been working on a script and hopefully it’ll happen. But it’s not locked into place or anything.
What exactly a Wet Hot American Summer sequel or prequel would be about was explained by Wain last June.
The prequel would be the same summer so they would be 20 years old for the part yeah, but not younger. So it would be 40 year olds playing 16 year olds. And yeah, we're in the early stages of thinking about that.
Once a script is finished, it looks like the cast would be willing to return, but considering the busy schedules of all involved, it doesn't look like we'll be returning to Camp Firewood for another few years. In the meantime, the movie is available on Netflix Instant.