A Longer Kiss Goodnighter?According to Dark Horizons, Samuel L. Jackson recently told MTV News that he hoped to revisit his Long Kiss Goodnight character Mitch Henessey in a sequel. The 1996 original (for which screenwriter Shane Black made a record $4 million payday) didn’t make that much money, but MTV says its become a cult hit since.* (If it’s such a cult hit, why hasn’t WB revisited the title with a Special Edition DVD, hmm?) Jackson says it’s one of his personal favorites, and he’s been working with director Renny Harlin to develop the sequel, elaborating, “We’re talking to writers, you know, getting it together.” Talking to writers? So I guess Shane Black’s not a given? That’s too bad, considering his “comeback” movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was the best thing he’s done yet!
Also not returning for the sequel would be Geena Davis, the star of the original, a female take on The Bourne Identity. I guess audiences are okay with aging male action stars, but not female ones? Tut, tut! Jackson says the plan is to bring in a younger actress to play Caitlin, the now grown-up daughter of Davis’s character, amnesiac spy Samantha Caine, who has inherited some of her mother’s special skills. “Her mom gets killed and we want to find out who did it,” Jackson explains. “She comes to me because I’m the only connection to her mom, and I might know the people that have done that.”
*It’s certainly popular among grad students. Several years ago I attended a conference on feminism in action films, and nearly everyone gave papers on that movie! It just seems so obvious, what’s the point? My partner and I decided to challenge ourselves a bit more and try to make a case for the Bond movies being feminist. Needless to say, it didn’t go over well. But our arguments were definitely more creative than “Um, Geena Davis is a spy and, uh, look—she’s also a woman!”
Interesting. You know, the screenplay gives the title of the "next" adventure at the end, James Bond style. Can't remember the name, but it was in the same neo noir style of The Long Kiss Goodnight (I think it had "kiss" in it).
ReplyDeleteI really like this film. I saw an early test screening and it had a great deal of very cool, somewhat over-the-top action beats. I was sorry to see most of these cut from the release print.
But no Geena and no Shane Black. I don't know...
Your footnote interests me. Was it feminism in action movies or feminism in strictly spy movies? Even if it was just spy movies, I'm surprised La Femme Nikita wasn't another just-as-popular easy answer (maybe not among normal people, but among film grad students...). And while I haven't actually seen The Long Kiss Goodnight, I'd imagine Nikita (or Point of No Return) is actually the easier paper because you see the transformation (even though I studied it in a class where they gave us a lot of Male Gaze nonsense). Or just action movies: no Sarah Connor either? And I don't know when your conference was, but Keira Knightly in POTC1 seems to be all about feminism in action movies.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting about the sequel title and the cut scenes, zencat. Thanks for sharing. Makes me hope WB DOES put out a special edition, restoring that OTT stuff.
ReplyDeleteRebecca, the subject of the conference was feminism in action movies, not spy movies. There were some La Femme Nikita papers, and Point of No Return, I think. But by far the most were Long Kiss Goodnight and, in second place, The Quick And the Dead. Both very obvious, if you ask me! Dating myself, it was definitely before POTC! When we were in college. We were the only undergrads there.
It's a shame that Black and Davis aren't back. I loved the first one. I remember my bro and I both thought it was so cool. Geena Davis was so hot and tough in this one. I was always a fan of hers anyway. It's a shame that Hollywood won't have a more mature actress in such a role, but a man's fine though. The first movie was so tough as nails. I always wanted to see a sequel. I'm still interested in this one, but hate that Geena Davis won't be back. Hopefully it will still be good. Harlin's track record isn't all that great anymore. Sam Jackson too does too many clunkers.
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