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Russell Crowe’s Nice Guys 2 Idea Is Terrible, But A Sequel Should Still Happen
Russell Crowe has his own idea for a sequel to the cult hit The Nice Guys, and while it sounds ridiculous, The Nice Guys 2 should still be greenlit. The Nice Guys follows two private detectives, Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and Jackson Healy (Crowe), with extremely different work methods and personalities, and they're constantly locking horns when they're forced to work on the same missing person case. Gosling and Crowe have shockingly great chemistry together in the movie, and at the end of the film, Holland and Jackson put aside their differences and set up a detective agency together, teasing a sequel.
Reportedly, Crowe wanted to make a Nice Guys sequel ever since the first movie wrapped production. Unfortunately, box office performance dictates whether or not a film will be granted a sequel, and The Nice Guys' failure doomed any chance of The Nice Guys 2. The movie made $62 million on a $50 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), and given that a film generally needs to make 2.5 times its budget to break even, The Nice Guys lost millions. Despite 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and two bankable actors, the movie somehow couldn't find an audience. However, as it has since gained a cult following, The Nice Guys 2 could still happen, even if it likely shouldn't follow Crowe's idea.
Russell Crowe’s Nice Guys 2 Idea Sounds More Like A Jump Street Movie
While promoting The Pope's Exorcist, Crowe appeared on the Barstool Sports podcast KFC Radio, and the actor was asked about the idea of a Nice Guys sequel. Crowe had a surprisingly positive response to the movie, commenting that he regularly messages Gosling about the possibility, but he also added that he and Gosling have their own idea for a sequel. The actor commented, "We wanted to call it Nice Guys: The Mexican Detectives. Bang! It’s me and Ryan, somehow we’ve got to pretend we’re Mexican detectives." While a Nice Guys 2 is viable, Crowe's idea sounds more like a Jump Street movie than a Nice Guys sequel.
Playing on the meta themes of the series, 22 Jump Street's ending teases dozens of sequels, such as 23 Jump Street: Medical School and 30 Jump Street: Flight Academy. Those films sound ridiculous, but they totally fit in with the world of Jump Street, and Crowe's outrageous idea sounds like one of those Jump Street sequels. The Nice Guys has over-the-top sequences, but it's still way more grounded than the comedy franchise. Nice Guys: The Mexican Detectives would be too reminiscent of the Jump Street series, especially as the beginning of 22 Jump Street literally sees Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) pretending to be the Mexican cartel.
The Nice Guys 2 Should Still Happen
Even though Crowe's idea for The Nice Guys 2 doesn't exactly fit the tone of the original Shane Black-directed movie, that doesn't mean that a sequel shouldn't still happen. Black has never made a follow-up to any of his original crime capers, even though they all perfectly set up sequels. The filmmaker's brand of buddy cop movies is led by chemistry and constantly leaves viewers wanting more. But The Nice Guys has the most potential by far. As the 2016 movie has only grown in popularity thanks to streaming, a sequel could potentially be way more successful.
