Doug Liman and Amazon MGM Studios could order another round of controversy as two Road House sequels are in the works. What? Yeah, buckle up. According to an exclusive report from Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr., Liman, who helmed the 2024 remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor, has stealthily acquired the sequel rights to Road House, scripted by R. Lance Hill. The title of Liman’s project, Road House: Dylan, is actually a sequel to the beloved 1989 original starring Patrick Swayze as the bouncer with a fist made of steel.
Confused? Don’t worry, there’s more! Production for Amazon MGM’s Road House 2 is already underway, with Ilya Naishuler getting behind the camera. In the sequel, Gyllenhaal reprises his role as the cagefighter turned bouncer, with Dave Bautista, Aldis Hodge, and Leila George set to co-star. For the time being, Amazon plans to release Road House 2 on Prime Video, just as it did with the last film. If you recall, Road House was a massive hit for the streamer, although its exact numbers are unknown; the film reportedly drew a record-breaking 50 million worldwide viewers in its first two weeks.
Despite the massive return on streaming numbers, Doug Liman was notoriously displeased with Amazon’s decision to make Road House a streaming-only release. As Doug Liman told IndieWire, by putting Road House on Amazon Prime, the studio screwed himself and several other key players – including star Jake Gyllenhaal – out of proper financial compensation. “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.”
While the contractual stipulations for Road House aren’t precisely known, it’s quite possible that Liman, Gyllenhaal, Silver, and others expected to make some extra money from the backend, which would have come via a percentage of ticket sales. With no ticket sales on Amazon Prime, that leaves less money to dole out to the creatives. Gyllenhaal has taken a different stance on the issue, however, saying, “Amazon was always clear” about where the movie would end up.
For more details about how there can be dueling sequels, make sure you check out Fleming Jr.’s concise report on Deadline. In the meantime, how will the Road House 2 feud pan out? Which movie would you like to see more of? Are you down to watch both? Let us know in the comments section below.
