Daddy’s Homewas an unexpected hit for Paramount. The film grossed $240 million worldwide, which is even more impressive when you consider that it was competing withStar Wars: The Force Awakensat the box office. Paramountannounced plans for a sequel last April, and now it looks like they’re moving forward on getting the movie into theaters.
According toDeadline,Daddy’s Home 2is set to hit theaters on November 10th. While that weekend itself isn’t too competitive—the other wide releases are theJennifer Lawrencespy filmRed Sparrowand the animated filmThe Star—it is wedged between two major weekends. On November 3rd we’ve got the release ofThor: Ragnarokand on November 17th we’ve gotJustice League. While that’s some serious competition, if the first movie was able to make a stand against theStar Warsbehemoth, then the sequel should do all right.
What’s more surprising is that Hollywood has decided that people are willing to seeMel Gibsonin a major studio comedy again. Gibson’s recent Best Director nomination forHacksaw Ridgepretty much signaled that the coast was clear, so Gibson along with the far less controversialJohn Lithgow, are reportedly circlingDaddy’s Home 2. While there’s no word yet on who Gibson and Lithgow would play, it wouldn’t surprise me if they turn out to be the fathers ofWill FerrellandMark Wahlberg’s characters.
Setting Gibson’s personal issues aside, I like seeing him in comedies. He’s always had good comic timing, and it could be fun to see him bounce off Ferrell, Wahlberg, and Lithgow. While I’m not expecting mind-blowing greatness from aDaddy’s Homesequel, the first one was surprisingly charming, and new film could be a nice piece of a holiday season counter-programming.
What do you think about adding Gibson to the cast? Are you ready to see him in a mainstream studio comedy again? Sound off in the comments section.
