Despite becoming a cult horror comedy in the early 2010s, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil might never get a sequel after all. The film's co-writer and director Eli Craig recently revealed there were a few scrapped projects along the way, including a TV series.
"Honestly, Tucker and Dale 2 has died more deaths than the college kids in Tucker and Dale," he said in an interview with SlashFilm.
"We've had so many versions that have almost got off its feet or, for one reason or another, have gotten killed. It really does set us back that people can't look at the box office, the actual box office, of the movie," Craig continued.
The "actual box office" of the film, meaning its global earnings, amounted to $5.24 million worldwide, while Tucker and Dale only grossed $223,838 domestically. It would be unfair to judge it just in those terms, though, as the film quickly became a cult horror with glowing reviews.
"It’s always been a struggle, and then when we do set it up, and we get all the pieces together, it gets killed somehow. We almost did a TV show with it that was on TNT/TBS, and you’ll be happy to know that David Zaslav [then Discovery CEO David Zaslav, now CEO of Warner Bros], the slayer of all cinema, came in and put the final nail in the coffin for Tucker and Dale as we were about to go to series, and just cancelled all production," Craig revealed.
For those unfamiliar with the film, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil follows a pair of nice hillbillies, Tucker (played by Alan Tudyk) and Dale (played by Tyler Labine), who are on vacation at their mountain cabin when they are mistaken for slasher-type serial killers by a group of college kids.
The now scrapped TV series would have been "more like Tucker and Dale, but detectives", said Craig. "Detective Tucker and Dale, like, stupidly trying to figure out what's happening in a world where they're always getting it wrong and people are dying around them."
Despite everything, the director is still open to continue the story in some way, as long as the fans like the sound of that.
"There's a part of me that thinks it could be the first and last movie I ever make. Maybe I'll be moving along on a walker with Tucker and Dale and we’re like, 'We’re making this!'. I've never completely let go of the idea we'd make a sequel. And part of the reason people want to see a sequel is because it's set up for it. Tucker and Dale, when I wrote it, there were these elements I wanted to follow, like Chad is still alive, Allison and Dale's story. So I always wanted to do a sequel, but Hollywood is a slayer of great ideas. But stay alive, fans! Because there's always a possibility."
Until we wait to see if there are any developments in that area, Craig has just released a new horror movie, Clown in a Cornfield. The story takes place in a fading midwestern town in which Frendo, a clown that once was a symbol of the area’s success, reemerges as a terrifying killer.
Clown in a Cornfield is now out in cinemas. For more, check out all upcoming horror movies in 2025 and beyond.
