We’re going to need more alphabets. On the back of the success last year’s horror anthology “The ABCs of Death” — for which 26 directors each directed a short loosely connected to the theme of death and an arbitrary letter of the alphabet — it looks like we’re going to be getting a sequel, with producers currently shopping the film at Cannes. They’ll be moving beyond exclusively horror directors this time too, with Alex de la Iglesia (“The Last Circus“), Rodney Ascher (“Room 237”) and animator Bill Plympton already signed on, and there will once again be a director’s competition to find the 26th filmmaker.
“This time around we’re all determined to expand the concept to even more hyperkinetic, comically deranged and mortally dizzying heights of how someone can shuffle off this mortal coil,” said producer Ant Timpson. So it doesn’t seem to matter that the first film wasn’t awfully well-received, despite boasting names such as Ben Wheatley and Ti West amongst its directors, and that most reviews pointed towards the constraining concept as the reason it failed. Nope, it’s probably pretty cheap to make and a guaranteed hit via VOD and online platforms, so a sequel’s a no-brainer.
Magnet Films, Timpson Films and Drafthouse Films will once again produce (with one slot again open to entrants of a film making competition) and now the main question will be just what kind of filmmaking talent they can attract to the project, and whether any of the original’s helmers will return. Oh, there is one other vital question too… just what do you call a sequel to “ABCs of Death.” Variety is reporting that it’s called “ABCs of Death 2,” but frankly we just don’t think that will do. How about “123s of Death”? Or maybe even “DEF’s of Death”? And then there’s always our particular favorite, “ABCs of DEF.” Any other title suggestions are welcome in the comments.
