"Guy Ritchie Helms Jake Gyllenhaal in Road House Follow-Up"

Guy Ritchie is set to take the helm for the sequel to Amazon MGM’s 2024 Road House remake, as reported by Variety. Jake Gyllenhaal will reprise his role as the former UFC fighter turned bouncer, Elwood Dalton. The sequel was confirmed back in May last year, shortly after the successful March 2024 release of the original remake, which garnered over 50 million views in its first two weekends on Prime Video. This made it the most-watched produced film debut ever for Amazon MGM Studios worldwide at that time.

The original 2024 Road House was directed by Doug Liman, known for films like The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow, and Swingers. However, Liman expressed his reluctance to return for the sequel after voicing his dissatisfaction with the film’s streaming release. He stated, “My issue on Road House is that we made the movie for MGM to be in theaters, everyone was paid as if it was going to be in theaters, and then Amazon switched it on us and nobody got compensated. Forget about the effect on the industry — 50 million people saw Road House — I didn’t get a cent, Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t get a cent, [producer] Joel Silver didn’t get a cent. That’s wrong.” In contrast, Gyllenhaal clarified that Amazon had been transparent about the film's streaming destination from the outset.

Road House 2 will mark the third collaboration between Ritchie and Gyllenhaal, following their work on the well-received 2023 war film, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, and the upcoming action thriller In the Grey, which also stars Henry Cavill, though no release date has been set for the latter. The screenplay for Road House 2 is being penned by Will Beall, known for his work on Gangster Squad, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

Guy Ritchie remains busy, having recently directed multiple episodes of the newly launched Paramount+ series MobLand, starring Tom Hardy, and his next film, Fountain of Youth, is slated to premiere on Apple TV+ later this month. Further details about Road House 2 remain limited as of now.