Anthony Mackie, an MCU actor, reveals that he is still pushing for a Real Steel sequel, the underappreciated science fiction film starring Hugh Jackman. Real Steel, a 2011 film directed by Shawn Levy, is set in the near future when robot boxing is a popular sport.
The movie had an average box office success, and there were rumors of a sequel, but no follow-up film was ever made. Anthony Mackie said in a recent interview with Inverse that he actually calls Shawn Levy once or twice a year to urge him to start working on a sequel.
Anthony Mackie Still Pushes For a Real Steel Sequel
It’s difficult to admit that Real Steel didn’t exactly wow a lot of people, but over time it has been somewhat inspirational and even fun since the idea of being the underdog and coming from behind is the kind of story that many people seem to appreciate.
In a recent interview with Inverse, Anthony Mackie says he’s still very interested in working on Real Steel 2 with Hugh Jackman. Mackie revealed in the interview that he actually calls Shawn Levy, the director, once or twice a year to push for a sequel. “It was supposed to be a trilogy,” Mackie said. “It was supposed to be three or four movies together.”
Regarding a sequel, Mackie acknowledged that he has always desired for a return to the world of Real Steel. “I’ve always advocated for a sequel. If they can do a sequel of other movies with robots boxing, they can definitely do a sequel to this movie just simply because the first one worked so much.”
Real Steel director Shawn Levy also expressed his desire to return to the project and make Real Steel 2 in the interview with Inverse, so Mackie isn’t the only one who wants to see it return.
“Well wait, we love it that much too. We’ve always loved it that much too. It’s one of those never say never, it feels like the clock has run out on that window of opportunity. It feels like that fan love and that audience hasn’t gone away. So, who knows?” Levy stated.
Shawn Levy Explained Why a Sequel to Real Steel Never Happened
At the time of its release, Real Steel punched its way to a nearly $300 million global box office. Since then, the movie has developed into a sort of cult classic among families. The movie was praised for its innovative fusion of technology and real-world sports.
Motion capture technology was used to create animatronic robots for the movie in order to showcase the rodeo fights of robots and animatronics. Although there were rumors of a sequel to the popular movie, the filmmaker dispelled them, claiming there was no need for one.
Levy shared in an interview with Collider,
“I really try to not make sequels that don’t deserve to be. And it’s why I didn’t move forward with the Real Steel sequel because I didn’t feel we had a second movie that could match or top the first.”
Additionally, he mentioned how Real Steel “was marketed as like Transformers Light, but it was never Transformers. Always a father-son story it.”
“We did well, but not well enough,” Levy continued. “It wasn’t like we had $500 million and a sequel was a no-brainer. So, the economics were on the bubble, we didn’t have the perfect script idea. It’s still something we flirt with because whatever enduring love fans have for Real Steel, Hugh Jackman and I share it.”
Although it doesn’t appear like there is much progress on the Real Steel sequel, it was revealed last year that a TV series was being developed for Disney+. In terms of a big-screen sequel, Shawn Levy has consistently stated that he wouldn’t want to proceed unless he was confident he could make it even better than the original.
Whether a Real Steel TV series or the sequel will ever be produced or not, it is clear that a number of people involved in this are eager to see it happen.
Source: Inverse
