Spider-Man director Jon Watts has canceled the sequel to his Apple TV Plus movie Wolfs, which stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney, because he says he no longer trusts Apple as a creative partner.
Deadline first reported a sequel would happen back in August, along with the news that Wolfs was pivoting from a wide theatrical release ahead of streaming to a limited release before debuting on Apple TV+.
Watts also shared his explanation for why he'd stepped away from the sequel with Deadline. "I showed Apple my final cut of Wolfs early this year," he commented. "They were extremely enthusiastic about it and immediately commissioned me to start writing a sequel. But their last minute shift from a promised wide theatrical release to a streaming release was a total surprise and made without any explanation or discussion. I wasn’t even told about it until less than a week before they announced it to the world.
"I was completely shocked and asked them to please not include the news that I was writing a sequel," he continued. "They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to create a positive spin to their streaming pivot. And so I quietly returned the money they gave me for the sequel. I didn’t want to talk about it because I was proud of the film and didn’t want to generate any unnecessary negative press. I loved working with Brad and George (and Amy [Ryan] and Austin [Abrams] and Poorna [Jagannathan] and Zlatko [Buric]) and would happily do it again. But the truth is that Apple didn’t cancel the Wolfs sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner."
Wolfs follows two fixers (Clooney and Pitt) who are forced to team up together, despite usually working alone. It became Apple TV's most-viewed film ever.
Watts's next project is Star Wars show Skeleton Crew, which he co-created with Christopher Ford. It debuts on Disney Plus this December 3 in the US and December 4 in the UK. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies left in 2024.
