Three months after Apple inked a deal with director Jon Watts to develop a follow-up to his crime caper “Wolfs,” starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, plans for the sequel have now been halted, Variety has learned.
The confirmation comes after Collider published an interview with Watts Friday morning. Promoting his new Disney+ “Star Wars” series “Skeleton Crew,” the filmmaker was asked about his coming plans, responding “I don’t know what I’m directing next, and I don’t think there’s going to be a ‘Wolfs’ sequel.” Variety has since confirmed with sources that plans have been scrapped.
Apple TV+ did not immediately respond for comment.
Back in August, Apple gave a rose-and-thorn update to its rollout of “Wolfs.” The tech giant confirmed that it was pulling the wide theatrical release of the film, which it had partnered with Sony on as a distributor. Instead, “Wolfs” moved to a one-week limited theatrical engagement on Sept. 20, with its debut on the streamer Apple TV+ coming a week after on Sept. 27.
The abrupt new strategy, enacted just over a month ahead of release, raised some eyebrows, as Clooney had stated in 2023 that “Brad and I made the deal to do that movie where we gave money back to make sure that we had a theatrical release.” But the shift to a limited run also came packaged with news that Apple had signed Jon Watts to direct, write and produce a “Wolfs” sequel, with Clooney and Pitt expected to return to play a pair of fixers operating in the criminal underworld.
“Wolfs” made a splashy premiere at the Venice Film Festival in early September, with both of its stars walking the red carpet. And after its debut on Apple TV+, the streamer boasted that the film had become the most viewed feature in the platform’s history. It was the type of superlative meant to affirm that “Wolfs” was a success. Apple won the project in a competitive bidding war, enticed by the prospect of reuniting “Ocean’s” trilogy stars Clooney and Pitt, as well as landing Watts’ latest feature after the filmmaker had finished helming all three Tom Holland “Spider-Man” entries for Sony.
“Audiences have chosen in droves to make ‘Wolfs’ part of their weekend, making the movie a global blockbuster,” Matt Dentler, Apple Original Films’ head of features, said in a statement at the time. “We always consider Apple TV+ to be the home for the world’s most talented artists to create and deliver their best work, and it’s exciting to see audiences embrace that so overwhelmingly.”
But with the release of “Wolfs” now two months in the rear-view, it seems there’s much less to howl about.
