The 1993 action bonanza Demolition Man is a strange case that continues to defy conventional sensibilities about a film’s enduring legacy.
Considered a generic action thriller by audiences back in 1993, the film has continued to endure, garnering fans thirty years later as its satirical themes of technology and fascism continue to resonate in a time of rampant social media censorship and the rise of AI. So with recent comments from Sylvester Stallone pointing towards a sequel, let's take a look at what we know so far about Demolition Man 2.
The Original Demolition Man
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, and Sandra Bullock, the film tells the story of John Spartan, a brash police officer who doesn't care about collateral damage while chasing criminals. After a failed attempt to rescue hostages from evil crime lord Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), Spartan and Phoenix are both sentenced to be cryogenically frozen in 1996.
In 2032, Phoenix escapes during his scheduled parole hearing, and the authorities are forced to awaken Spartan to help capture him. However, like a fish out of a bottle, Spartan barely recognizes the world he is thrust into as a game of cat and mouse begins once again between two mortal enemies.
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One of the film’s main ideas is that the main villain is in pursuit of a technologically advanced utopia where bad words are punishable by fine, violence has been outlawed, and non-conformists have been reduced to living underground.
Considering the current trends of tech billionaires hoping to do the same to the masses, we are in eerily similar territory when it comes to our immediate societal future.
In addition, digital currencies, electric cars, short-form language, tablets, and portable phones are some of the things that the film already accurately predicted for the future.
Made on a budget of around $50 million, Demolition Man managed to gross $160 million at the global box office, powered by the star power of Stallone and Bullock. With millions further in home video and its recent resurgence on streaming, the film was an unabashed success.
In addition, the film’s themes of government overreach and censorship have strangely resonated in today’s time, providing further impetus to the film’s ability to predict the dystopian future that we find ourselves in today.
The Long Road To The Sequel
Since the film was profitable, the chances of it getting a sequel were solid. After all, a slew of Stallone films, from Rocky to Rambo, had greenlit sequels on similar box office performances.
In 1993, Us Weekly magazine reported that a sequel was in works with the studio targeting a 1995 release date. However, troubles would soon arise when several subsequent films starring Stallone would bomb at the box office.
The 1995 ‘Judge Dredd’ feature lost quite a bit of money, while another 1995 Stallone feature ‘Assassins’ also stalled at the box office. Next, the 1996 Stallone-led disaster film ‘Daylight’ also saw similar results, while the 2000 thriller ‘Get Carter’ performed the worst out of all of them, losing around $30 million.
Three further Stallone films would outright flop in the coming years, and thus, the studio’s appetite to make the Demolition Man sequel would reduce significantly with each progressive box office bomb.
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In 2006, after his Rocky Balboa was an unexpected success, the press finally dared to ask Stallone about the long-in-development sequel.
"I'd like to make a sequel to it, but I believe that ship has sailed and maybe there are more challenges waiting on the horizon", Stallone would bluntly say. He would not specify what type of challenges the sequel had faced until then, but sceptics would note that these were related to budgetary issues.
Making a proper science fiction film in the 2010s costs at least $150 million in addition to the first dollar gross for lead Stallone, and no studio would commit to such a project if box office results weren't guaranteed. After 14 more years, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Stallone came out to say that a sequel was finally in development.
Inspired by the toilet paper shortages seen across the Western world at the onset of COVID and connecting it to the toilet paper narrative in the first film, Stallone believed he had the right idea for the sequel to work.
If both Bullock and Snipes end up returning for the sequel, there is one thing that might work in the sequel’s favor. Since the first film, Sandra Bullock’s star power has only risen further, and Snipes, too, after being incarcerated for tax evasion, has resurrected his career and ended up with very memorable performances in both The Expendables 3 and Deadpool and Wolverine.
What Stage in Development is Demolition Man 2?
Back in 2020 was five years ago, Stallone said on an Instagram Q&A that he is in talks with Warner Bros regarding the sequel. We don't know if the proposed film has been put on the back burner once again by Warner Bros. (they are currently in talks with both Netlfix and Paramount regarding a sale) or if Stallone quietly continues to work on it.
One thing is for certain: Stallone is 79 and is not getting any younger. If the film indeed ends up happening, it might have to go the route of Blade Runner 2049, where the original star has to take a back seat to the new kid on the block.
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All things said, we and a lot of fans who grew up on Stallone action flicks would love to see Demolition Man 2 happen.
The timing for the sequel is just right, and history has proven that competent sequels to cult classics from the last century can indeed work (case in point: Top Gun: Maverick and Blade Runner 2049) if they are handled correctly.
Warner Bros would be wise to take a swing here because if the film does not end up happening, it would be an incredible missed opportunity to let go of. The fan demand is there, the original star is prepped, and the only thing that remains is a studio committed to making it a reality.
So, if you are listening, Sly, please green-light Demolition Man 2 as soon as possible!
