Angelina Jolie Might Yet Get A Salt Sequel - New Writer Hired

[Brendon Connelly]

Kurt Wimmer's original screenplay for the undercover spy caperSalt famously revolved around a male protagonist who was later gender-swapped whenAngelina Jolie signed on to take the lead. The film worked out moderately well, and Jolie did seem rather at home in the part.

And soWimmer took a crack at a sequel script.

But it was just a few months after Wimmer got stuck in that word got out: Jolie wasn't pleased with what she was reading and she wouldn't commit to taking part in Wimmer's vision of a follow-up.

I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that the studio decided to keep Jolie attached and it was Wimmer who moved on.

Now, after many months of searching, there's a new writer on the project. The Hollywood Reportername Becky Johnston as thenext to take a pass - and if she can satisfy Jolie, then we probably have a sequel on our hands. Maybe they'll go back to Phillip Noyce to direct again, maybe Ms. Jolie will have issues there also.

Johnston doesn't have any big, slam-bam action films on her resume but her latest picture, Alfred Newman, has some Salt-style identity shifting at its core.

You know, if you look at the original Salt's box-office or Cinemascore a sequel seems like an obvious move. At the same time, do you know anybody clamouring for more?

[aditantimedh]

Becky Johnston wrote BAD GIRLS in the 90s, which was a terrible female Western that helped set female-driven action movies back for the rest of that decade.

[Jason A. Quest]

...do you know anybody clamouring for more?

The friend who asked me to see it with her apologized afterward. I told her that was unnecessary, because it wasn't her fault that all of the jokes fell flat. It was supposed to be a comedy, like the Pink Panther or a Road Runner cartoon, right?

P.S. I think the producers would do well to study a little history before they call it SALT II.

[paulski]

You know, if you look at the original Salt's box-office or Cinemascore a sequel seems like an obvious move. At the same time, do you know anybody clamouring for more?

Not me, that's for sure.

And it's not that the original was necessarily a bad movie or anything, but a sequel to Salt would rank right up there with Taken 2 and Speed 2 as most unnecessary sequels ever.

[toodoor]

Jolie is a good action star, but the film fell flat. It could have been good, but it seemed to take itself too seriously, and was far too stupid a film to take itself seriously.

[ewokpelts]

It was ...ok. Does it need a sequel? no.

[kalorama]

It was ...ok. Does it need a sequel? no.

I'm not sure why anyone would think "need" has anything to do with it. It made money (and got decent critical reception). Ergo, it gets a sequel.

It's that simple, really.

[Ferb Morgendorffer]

I'm not clamoring, but I'm open - finally caught the original this summer and thought it was at worst okay, at best had the potential Mission Impossible did (who thought off the first two we'd get MI3 & Ghost Protocol?) Still understand everyone's skepticism, it's one of those "if it does and it's good, great, if not whatever" movies for me.

[Theb-Igem]

Thought it was a great movie, the sequel's plot could surprise me but I didn't think the first movie's plot warranted a sequel