Ron Howard's 1991 Firefighter Film BACKDRAFT is Getting a Sequel!?
Never in a million years did I think I'd live to see the day where Ron Howard's 1991 firefighter film Backdraft would be getting a sequel, but it's currently in development at Universal Pictures, and I don't know why.
According to MovieHole, the studio has hired Apollo 18 director Gonzalo López-Gallego to helm the sequel. Apollo 18 kinda sucked, so that fact that he's the guy directing the sequel make this whole Backdraft 2 thing even less exciting.
Oh yeah... I should probably mention that William Baldwin will be back to reprise his role from the original film. According to the report, the story will follow a character named Sean McCaffrey, who is the grown son of Kurt Russell’s character from the first film. He's an investigator with the Chicago F.D and still holds his uncle (Baldwin) responsible for the death of his dad.
The villains are said to be a group of agents sneaking a missile out of the country, using a series of deadly fires as a distraction.
I was a big fan of Backdraft when it came out. I watched the movie a ton of times because I was obsessed with fire as a kid. Remember that Backdraft attraction at Universal Studios!? That was awesome.
If you've never seen the movie, you should check it out! It had a great cast that also included Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro, Rebecca De Mornay and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Below you'll find a synopsis and trailer to refresh your memory.
Chicago firefighting brothers Stephen (Kurt Russell) and Brian (William Baldwin) have been rivals since childhood. Brian, struggling to prove himself, transfers to the arson unit. There he aids Don (Robert De Niro) in his investigation into a spate of fires involving oxygen-induced infernos called backdrafts. But when a conspiracy implicating a crooked politician and an arsonist leads Brian back to Stephen, he is forced to overcome his brotherly competitiveness in order to crack the case.
Production on the sequel is set to begin in Romania and Toronto next month. What do you think about Universal developing a Backdraft sequel?