Ryan Gosling Thinks 'Angry Birds' Helped To Kill 'The Nice Guys 2'

Back in 2016, writer/director Shane Black (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”) released “The Nice Guys,” a comedic two-hander that starred Ryan Gosling (“Blade Runner 2029”) and Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”) in an unlikely team-up an odd-couple pair of private eyes investigating a missing girl and the mysterious death of a porn star. However, while the film was considered a solid effort, it didn’t do gangbusters at the box office, only earning $71.2 million globally against a budget of $50 million. And though it’s become something of a modern comedy classic ever since, picking up steam on streaming services like Netflix, with many fans asking for a sequel, according to one of the film’s stars, that’s very likely.

Speaking with Comic Book to promote “The Fall Guy,” Gosling says sequel talk dried up, citing the animated video game movie “Angry Birds”— which opened to $38.1 million versus their $15.3 million at the domestic box office— as one of their reasons why they had a tough time finding an audience.

“So much of a sequel, I think, is decided by the opening weekend of a movie, and we opened up against Angry Birds,” Gosling, explaining why a “Nice Guys 2” never materialized. “So ‘Angry Birds’ just destroyed us. ‘Angry Birds’ got a sequel.”

READ MORE: ‘Project Hail Mary’: Ryan Gosling To Star In Phil Lord & Christopher Miller’s Space Adventure At Amazon MGM

Black had initially envisioned the films as a TV project over the 15 years of its development, so it may be something of a miracle he could get it pushed past the finish line to begin with. While not exactly a sequel, there was a report in 2017 that Fox Television (pre-Disney merger) and writer Michael Diliberti (“30 Minutes or Less”) were teaming up for a pilot for a female-driven ‘Nice Guys’ series reboot of the film in a modern setting, but sadly, nothing really came of that.

Since the release of “The Nice Guys,” Gosling has become arguably as close to a global superstar as you’ll get, having starred in 2023’s billion-dollar-grossing “Barbie” and earning an Academy Award nomination for the role in the process (let’s not forget how he completely dominated the Oscars with his “I’m Just Ken” performance). Perhaps the actor really pushing the studios might make a difference, but who knows.

Next month, Gosling returns to the big screen by co-starring with Emily Blunt in Universal’s “The Fall Guy,” which could be another franchise starter for the studio. He also recently signed up to star in “Project Hail Mary” for Amazon MGM Studios, and has been rumored to be on Marvel Studios’ radar (Gosling has said he wants to play Ghost Rider). Gosling is also looking to reunite with Margot Robbie for an “Ocean’s 11” prequel movie at Warners (distributed “The Nice Guys”). After the success of “Barbie,” the studio is presumably hoping that one will happen sooner rather than later.

As for “The Nice Guys 2,” we probably shouldn’t hold our breaths, hopefully writer/director Shane Black at least gets to make another movie soon.

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