Death Race 3 is gearing up

Death Race 2 , the sequel to Paul WS Anderson's remake of Death Race 2000 , is out on a straight-to-DVD release this week, and apparently there's more on the way.

According to Moviehole, Universal are so confident about the sequel that they've shoved Death Race 3 into development.

Part II is a prequel to Anderson's Death Race , and it details the events that lead to the demise of racing champ Frankenstein at the beginning of the first movie.

Money-hungry corporate types and morally dubious wardens founded the murderous cross-country race, in which the participating prisoners bag extra points for mowing down pedestrians.

Luke Goss plays the man who becomes masked racer Frankenstein in the prequel, which also stars Sean Bean and Danny Trejo.

Anderson's Death Race was a modest success critically and commercially, so it'll be interesting to see if the prequel does end up performing as well as Universal are expecting.

It's also a bit of a mystery as to where they'll take the story as Death Race 2 seems to have filled in most of the remaining blanks.

Could we be in for a proper sequel this time? Or will it be another prequel?

Perhaps it'll even act as a full-on sequel to the Roger Corman-produced Death Race 2000 . Or maybe, God forbid, this new one will be a reboot.

Will the movies' guilty pleasure value be able to sustain a franchise? Time will tell…