Jumper (2008) and Setting Up Sequels in First Films

Studio filmmaking has become the norm for the movie business. Movies put out by the major studios have always been the biggest market share. However, they’ve been slowly and steadily pushing everything else out of the limelight. There might still be some independent films released that find some modicum of success, but most of them get buried beneath the newest big-budget superhero flick, or cheaply made, high-profit-margin horror flick that a major studio releases. Most people don’t complain. Most people enjoy the big budget action flicks because they love going to the theater to see the spectacle on the big screen.

The studio heads know that audiences will visit theaters in droves to see what the Avengers or the Justice League get up to in their newest adventure. The studio heads are always looking into the future to see what will give them the best chance of success. Usually, that comes in the form of sequels. If a movie finds an audience and the audience spends an inordinate amount of money to see the movie, the studio will obviously greenlight a sequel. It’s easy money. People liked the first one, so they’re willing to give a second flick a chance. Sometimes, though, studios get arrogant. They are so sure that their big movie will succeed that they greenlight a sequel early. They greenlight it too early. They greenlight it so early that the idea of a sequel is placed into the original film, setting up something that might happen in a future installment. Yet, those future installments may never happen.

Take this week’s flick, for example. Jumper came out in 2008 and served as the starting point for a major studio franchise that never grew beyond one film. David Rice (Max Thieriot) was a teenager with a terrible life. He had a crush on Millie (AnnaSophia Robb), a girl at school, which never went beyond the crush stage. His father (Michael Rooker) was a semi-abusive drunk. David was bullied at school, and almost died when he fell through some ice on a quick-moving river. It all turned around when he discovered he had the ability to jump to other places. It was kind of like teleporting, but using a self-made wormhole, called a jump scar. A few years later, an adult David (Hayden Christensen) got a second chance at love with Millie (Rachel Bilson), while teaming up with Griffin (Jamie Bell), another jumper, to stop Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) from killing all living jumpers.

The storyline of Jumper was fairly easy to follow. David learned that he had a superpower, exploited it, and tried not to get killed by people who thought the power was an abomination. Sprinkled throughout were hints to his familial past. His mother (Diane Lane) left when he was five years old. That abandonment was partially responsible for David’s father being an alcoholic. Partway through Jumper, David was apprehended in Rome for trespassing in The Coliseum and being near a dead body. His mother appeared while he was in custody to tell him to escape. He confronted her at the end of the film, only to discover she was part of the same agency as Roland, and it was her job to hunt people like David.

This was the set-up to a Jumper sequel that never happened. It positioned the pieces for a further conflict where David would have to evade his mother’s pursuit. He was going on the run from his own family. Where he could simply escape his father’s abuse by jumping into a new life in New York, his mother was coming back into his life. She had the resources to remain in his life even when neither of them wanted it. While Roland was a villain who pursued jumpers in the name of God, David’s mother would bring family conflict to the table. Their conflict would raise the stakes for a sequel, bringing more emotion into the chase.

We all know now that the sequel never happened. It likely never will. Though the final moments of Jumper included David’s mom telling him that she would give him a head start, nobody ever saw what happened when that head start was over. Would she find him? How would he escape family? Where would he go and how would he fend off her advances. It left questions that would be answered in a sequel. Jumper was supposed to start a franchise. But it didn’t. Everything just sputtered out and the movie was put in the past. People moved on. Nobody was interested in the continuing story of David Rice.

The same sort of thing could be said about Abduction, a Taylor Lautner flick that was clearly supposed to kick off a second successful franchise for the teen star. The movie was quite similar to Jumper, though the action was the result of espionage instead of superpowers. The main character was on the run from spies, assassins, and government agents who wanted to use him as leverage. There was a list of the names of double agents and his biological father was a superspy who knew where the list was. The people on the list wanted to use the main character as a means to get the list.

In a similar fashion, the movie was about the chase. The main character travelled from one location to another, avoiding capture from authorities trying to kill or kidnap him. But it was the family connection that really brought it together. He lived a normal life with a mom and a dad who loved him. One night, some assassins showed up and he learned they were not his real parents. They were handlers meant to watch over him as he grew up. His real father was a super spy and that’s why he was in the situation. That was why he was fleeing people who wanted to harm him. He dug into his father’s past and slowly dove deeper into the espionage world.

The sequel was set up near the end when the main character came into near contact with his father outside a baseball stadium. This time, it wasn’t so much about the story threads that were being tugged on. The story of Abduction was pretty open and closed. The pursuit was over. The main character had a new home and he began a new romantic relationship. Everything was cut and dry. It was over. The only reason this movie is even being mentioned as a movie that set up a sequel that never happened is the casting of the main character’s father. He was played by Dermot Mulroney. That’s a pretty big name to have for someone that only comes in for a scene to play a character that was referenced throughout the film, but also not a big enough name to be a cameo people would be talking about long after they saw the movie. He was on the level of someone cast for a franchise, whose role would expand later on. It never would, though, because there was no sequel to Abduction.

One last movie that should be brought up in this discussion of franchise starters that never started a franchise is Super Mario Bros. This was a clear attempt at a franchise starter by a studio. They took something with name recognition, this time a popular series of video games, and tried to bring that popularity to the big screen. The problem was that the movie wasn’t good. It was a tonal mess caused by the clear disagreements between filmmakers, studios, and video game company about what the movie should be. There were some major liberties taken in the adaptation which led to the movie being almost nothing like the video games, except in names and references. The world was changed. The origins of characters were changed. Nearly everything was changed. And the audience never showed up.

The story of Super Mario Bros. was a little odd. Two plumber brothers were transplanted from their New York life into an alternate universe called Dinohattan. They had to navigate their way through a strange world where dinosaurs evolved into humans. All the while, a princess that one brother was in love with tried to get rid of the dictator who usurped her father some years earlier. It was your basic two brothers go to a new world and one is in love with a dethroned princess story.

Obviously, they got rid of the dino dictator by the end of the movie. The two brothers went back to their Brooklyn life. Nearly a month after they returned to their world, the princess showed up again. This was where a sequel was set up. She was dressed up like an action hero and asked for their help in whatever was going on. They grabbed their tool belts, she smiled, and the movie cut to credits. The brothers and the princess were heading out for another adventure that would play out in another film. That other film was never made. The disastrous reception of Super Mario Bros. kind of ruled out any chance of a follow-up. There might be a new adaptation of the video game series at some point, but there will never be a sequel to the 1993 bomb.

When it comes to studio filmmaking, franchises are one of the biggest cash cows out there. The popularity of one film can lead to continued popularity in a sequel and beyond. Look at the movies released at any given time and there are bound to be multiple sequels and reboots. Recognizable intellectual property sells. Studios should learn, however, not to hype up sequels before the first film has been released. Placing hints to sequels within a film can backfire and look tacky if said film doesn’t find success. It can lead to moments such as those in Jumper, Abduction, and Super Mario Bros. that clearly plant seeds for a sequel that never happens. It makes the studio look too cocky for their own good.

In a studio system that has become all about profit over artistry, franchises have become a staple in people’s movie diets. They’re pushed in many ways. People talk about potential sequels. Actors sign on for multiple movies at the outset. It’s just an expected thing at this point. The less successful big budget flicks don’t get sequels, though. Even when they set up a potential sequel within the first film, it doesn’t always happen. If the first film doesn’t make any money, the franchise will stop. That’s the way the business works. For better or worse. For good or bad.

I’m going to get a few notes in here before we close out the week:

• Jumper was suggested by @deaddropfredd.
• Super Mario Bros. (week 248) and Abduction (week 433) were brought up in this post.
• Jumper saw the third Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance of Christian Pikes, who was in Air Buddies (week 270) and Snow Buddies (week 270).
• Michael Rooker was in The Marine 2 (week 30) and Jumper.
• Hayden Christiansen returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies in Jumper after previously being featured in Outcast (week 163).
• Brad Borbridge was in Jumper. He was also in Gooby (week 166).
• Jamie Bell played Griffin in Jumper and Ben Grimm in Fant4stic (week 172).
• Kristen Stewart made a small appearance near the end of Jumper. She was previously seen in American Ultra (week 261).
• Samuel L. Jackson was in Jumper. He did voice work for Star Wars: The Clone Wars (week 377).
• Finally, Ryan Grantham had roles in both Santa Buddies (week 420) and Jumper.
• Have you seen Jumper? What did you think of it? How do you feel about movies that spend time setting up sequels? Are there any sequels that were set up in movies that you wish happened but never did? Let me know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.
• Twitter and the comments are good places to find me and leave suggestions about what to watch in future Sunday “Bad” Movies weeks. This week was a suggestion!
• Don’t forget to check out Sunday “Bad” Movies on Instagram to keep the bad movie fun going all week long.
• It’s time to talk about next week’s movie. There’s a pretty big movie coming out soon. It’s a sequel to a movie people didn’t like so much. The reaction to the trailers for this movie has been positive. Yeah, I’m talking about The Suicide Squad. I could watch the first film, Suicide Squad, for next week’s post. I decided against that, though. I would rather go in a full Sunday “Bad” Movies direction and check out a rip-off of that original movie. I’ll be checking out The Asylum’s mockbuster version, Sinister Squad. I hope you’ll come on the journey with me next week. See you then!