Despite being a reported hit, Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s recent onscreen teamup, “Wolfs,” will not be getting a sequel.
According to Deadline, “Wolfs” was the most viewed feature film on Apple TV+, and the outlet had previously confirmed a sequel was on the horizon.
However, the film’s director, Jon Watts, pulled the plug after a disagreement with the streaming service.
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Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s crime caper “Wolfs” will not be getting a sequel, according to the film’s director. (Apple TV+)
“I showed Apple my final cut of ‘Wolfs’ early this year,” Watts told Deadline. “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.”
The decision not to do a full theatrical release left Watts “completely shocked” and he asked the streaming service to “please not include the news that I was writing a sequel.”
“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,” he continued. ” 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.”
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“Wolfs” director Jon Watts on set with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Watts told Deadline he canceled the film’s sequel after disagreements with Apple on release strategy. (Apple TV+)
Watts added, “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.”
Representatives for Watts, Pitt, Clooney, and Apple TV+ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Watts said he enjoyed working with Clooney and Pitt, but “no longer trusted” Apple as “a creative partner.” (Eric Charbonneau/Apple TV+ via Getty Images)
“But the truth is that Apple didn’t cancel the ‘Wolfs’ sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner.”
— Jon Watts
“Wolfs” had a premiere in September at the Venice Film Festival, where Clooney cleared up rumors about his and Pitt’s paychecks for the film and the release plans during a press conference for the film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Clooney and Pitt gave portions of their salaries back after a deal for a theatrical release for “Wolfs” fell through, meaning it would get a limited release.
“Yes, we wanted it to be released [in theaters]. We’ve had some bumps along the way, that happens. When I did [Clooney-directed biographical sports drama] ‘The Boys in the Boat,’ we did it for MGM, and then it ended up being for Amazon, and we didn’t get a foreign release at all, which was a surprise. There are elements of this that we are figuring out,” he said per the outlet.
“Wolfs” had a premiere at the Venice Film Festival this year, where Clooney confirmed he and Pitt had returned portions of their salaries to try to ensure a wide theatrical release before the movie went to streaming. (Daniele Venturelli/WireImage)
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“You guys are all in this, too,” he added. “We’re all in this industry, and we’re trying to find our way post-COVID and everything else, and so there’s some bumps along the way. It is a bummer, of course, but on the other hand, a lot of people are going to see the film, and we are getting a release in a few hundred theaters, so we’re getting a release. But yeah, it would’ve been nice if we [were] to have a wide release.”
In 2023, Clooney also told Deadline that he and Pitt had returned some of their salaries to ensure a theatrical release, saying, “Brad and I made the deal to do that movie where we gave money back to make sure that we had a theatrical release. At the time, that wasn’t as popular an opinion as it has become in the last year and a half now.”
In Venice, Clooney also addressed a report from The New York Times that the “Ocean’s 11” stars had been paid over $35 million each to star in the film.
Clooney also denied rumors he and Pitt were paid over $35 million to star in “Wolfs.” (JB Lacroix/FilmMagic)
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“[It was] an interesting article, and whatever her source was for our salary, it is millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported. And I am only saying that because I think it’s bad for our industry if that’s what people think is the standard-bearer for salaries,” Clooney said, per People. “I think that’s terrible, it’ll make it impossible to make films.”
