Summary
In July 2020,NetflixreleasedThe Old Guard, a film that would go on to become one of the streaming service’s most popular movies of all time. It was on track to have earned over 72 million households within its first four weeks on Netflix. Given its success,Netflixquickly ordered a sequel for the film from director Victoria Mahoney, from a screenplay by Greg Rucka. The sequel was ordered two years ago, and despite having completed filming, it still has yet to be released by Netflix.
The stars of the film, including leading lady Charlize Theron, have recently suggested post-production has remained on schedule. Still, the streaming service has yet to release any news regarding the film. Given the lack of news, fans have begun to wonder ifThe Old Guard 2will ever see the light of day. As it stands, Netflix has yet to make an official statement regarding the sequel. Will fans still be interested in the movie when it is finally released? Or has Netflix quietly shelved the movie?
Known Details About The Old Guard 2 Production
Production onThe Old Guard 2officially kicked off two years ago with Theron returning to headline the Immortals. Replacing original director Gina Prince-Bythewood, who helmed the first film, was Mahoney, who would direct the film from Rucka’s screenplay. Rucka, of course, created the comic book series the films are based on alongside Leandro Fernández. Everything appeared to be going great with the film, as it had added new cast membersHenry Golding and Uma Thurmanto its already impressive cast. However, despite production having wrapped years ago, the film has not had any recent updates. At least, not until a recent interview with Theron forVariety. The actress was asked about the long-gestating sequel, to which he responded that post-production had ultimately been paused by Netflix. According to the actress, after Netflix underwent some leadership changes, this caused hiccups in the film’s post-production. “We got kind of stuck in that and our post-production shut down, I think, five weeks into it.”
Along with this, thefilm also suffered setbacksdue to the strikes that occurred last year, resulting in even more delays for the sequel. However, Theron has confirmed that post-production is finally back on track, and that the film will be coming soon. As to how soon the film will be released remains to be seen.The Old Guard 2is currently rumored to be going into reshoots next month, with reports suggesting a release sometime next year being probable.
The Old Guard 2 and Netflix: What Caused the Delays
The Old Guard 2isn’t the only project to have undergone hiccups at Netflix. Last year, the streaming service delayed six titles, including theMillie Bobby Brown-ledDamsel,A Family AffairandSpaceman. Like with most Hollywood productions, Netflix was also left impacted by the strikes that took place last year, which resulted in productions being halted and release dates being moved. However, there’s more to Netflix’s massive delays than just the strikes. The streaming service underwent a massive leadership change last year, with Netflix’s co-founder Reed Hastings stepping down as CEO, instead changing position to Executive Chairman. Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters moved into Hastings' title as co-CEOs of Netflix. The move occurred in January 2023, shortly before the Hollywood strikes took place. Given the change of leadership and the setbacks caused by the strikes, Netflix had to endure multiple delays too. In fact, one of the streaming service’s biggest titles,Stranger Things, was even impacted by these issues going into its fifth and final season. However, most projects have successfully rebounded without too many issues in post-production.
Although this isn’t the case withThe Old Guard 2, it does seem like the sequel was merely the victim of bad timing. When new leadership takes over, it is normal for them to look over upcoming projects and re-evaluate them before deciding on the project’s fate. This is something fans are all too familiar with now, thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery and David Zaslav.The Warner Bros. CEOmade plenty of buzz when he took over the studio as he shelved titles for tax cuts, includingBatgirlandCoyote vs. Acme, and took other titles off of the company’s streaming service despite much criticism for doing so. In the case of Netflix, the streaming service simply had to deal with these various changes in the midst of two very important strikes within Hollywood back-to-back, which did impact multiple projects, for better or worse. As it stands now,The Old Guard 2appears to be back on track, with Theron confirming post-production was back underway on the highly-anticipated sequel. While Netflix has been quiet about the project thus far, it does seem the streaming service has not shelved the movie. One can only hope that, should a third film eventually be ordered, it doesn’t have to endure such a bumpy road to debuting.
The Old Guardis currently streaming exclusively on Netflix. As of this writing,The Old Guard 2does not yet have an official release date.
