7 Sep – Since "Safe House" hit the US$202 million mark at the worldwide box office earlier this year, Universal has decided that it is a potential goldmine, and will work on a sequel for the CIA action thriller, starting off by rehiring the screenwriter of the first film, David Guggenheim, and producer Scott Stuber of "You, Me And Dupree" fame, according to Collider.
However, there is still no mention on whether Daniel Espinosa, the man who directed "Safe House", will return on board as well. The same goes for the film's lead star, Ryan Reynolds, whose appearance in the sequel is still unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, for reasons known to those who have watched the film, his co-star Denzel Washington will not be reprising his role in the sequel, but Universal Pictures is very interested to get the Oscar winner back onscreen, so there is a possibility that he may play a different role in the sequel instead.
"Safe House" tells the story of a rookie agent named Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) who one day comes in charge of protecting an ex-CIA agent turned rogue named Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), which turns out to be a harrowing affair between Frost's attempts to escape and the various assassination attempts made on Frost's life. The film managed to gross US$126 million in the United States and US$202 million worldwide.
Since he concluded his scriptwriting duties for "Safe House", Guggenheim had been busy with "Stolen", an action drama that stars Nicholas Cage as an ex-convict and father named Will Montgomery whose daughter (Malin Akerman) is kidnapped by an old partner. The ransom: the $10 million he believes Will obtained from the very bank robbery he was convicted for.
Guggenheim also wrote a draft for "Narco Sub", an underwater drug-related thriller that was supposed to be directed by the late Tony Scott who passed away last month.