Tom Hanks has reflected on the scrapped plans for a sequel to his multiple Academy Award-winning outing, Forrest Gump. Following the critical and commercial success of the original, there were many calls for a sequel, with original book author Winston Groom penning his own follow-up, Gump and Co., with original screenwriter Eric Roth also penning a script based on it in 2001. The years since saw the project die in development hell, initially due to the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as the general lack of interest from Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis in making the Forrest Gump sequel.
While appearing on the ReelBlend Podcast to promote his and Zemeckis' latest movie, Here, Hanks talked about the discussions he once had regarding his potential return as Forrest Gump. Admitting that he got together with Roth and Zemeckis after the studio had boldly promised to “pull a dump truck up” to their houses full of money, the trio briefly discussed the possibilities of what the sequel could look like. Ultimately, however, it was decided that a sequel remained unnecessary due to the first movie’s fitting conclusion and that it was “never gonna happen.” Check out his comments below:
Well, Winston Groom did write another version of it, but his first book was very different for a while. It was a real great interpretation, and in fact, there was a version of a second [movie]. Eric Roth and Bob and I, we got together and Eric had sort of mapped out what the second one could be.
The studio actually said, “What, are you guys allergic to money?” That’s one of the things they said. “What, you guys don’t want us to pull a dump truck up to your house and unload nickels, dimes and quarters?” I said, “Okay, well, we don’t know what it’s going to be.” So, we got together and talked about the possibilities of what the possibilities could be, and here’s what we could do. We could come up with a story, we could come up with a plot, we could come up with things that happen to the characters, we could come up with something that would work, but that was the only meeting that we ever had about it.
Because when it was done, we just said, “This remains unnecessary. Why would we try to continue a story that came to its own complete and proper conclusion?” So, yeah, talked about, never gonna happen.
The Original Books Could Potentially Inform A Fresh Reboot
Over the years, Hollywood studios have pushed for a number of sequels that have largely been deemed unnecessary. Often swayed by the financial promise that comes from capitalizing on the success of the original movies, countless sequels have been rushed into development without ever having a finished product eventuate. For many, however, the idea of a non-existent sequel is a much better option than a sub-par product that could potentially reflect poorly on the first movie which inspired it.
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As such, many fans of the original Forrest Gump will likely take comfort in Hanks’ assertion that a sequel to his own movie is never going to happen. However, just because Hanks and Zemeckis are not interested in revisiting the character, does not necessarily mean that all future adaptations will go completely by the wayside. Much as Hanks himself points out, Groom’s original Forrest Gump novel contains several key differences to the movie adaptation, and studios may eventually look toward a complete reboot more closely aligned with the source material.
Our Take On A Potential Forrest Gump Reboot
The Film Has Already Had One Reboot Already
While the very thought of rebooting Forrest Gump may elicit a strong, and largely negative, reaction among many of the movie’s original fanbase, the fact remains that Hanks’ iconic movie has already been remade once. Released in 2022, the Indian Hindi-language Laal Singh Chaddha is itself a direct remake of Hanks' 1995 movie, with Aamir Khan assuming the film’s titular role.
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While English-speaking audiences may not be familiar with this particular reboot, the precedent set by Laal Singh Chaddha could potentially prompt Hollywood studios to take another look at Groom’s original books. Whether any such plans would suffer the same fate as a Hanks’ led sequel remains to be seen, but a movie more closely based on both Forrest Gump and Gump and Co. could potentially provide a new Forrest Gump reboot with a large enough point of difference to justify its existence.
Source: ReelBlend Podcast
In this iconic piece of American film history, the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, the events of the Vietnam war, Watergate, and other history unfold through the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75.
Director Robert Zemeckis
Release Date July 6, 1994
Studio(s) Paramount Pictures
Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures
Writers Winston Groom , Eric Roth
Runtime 142 minutes
Budget $55 million
English (US) ·