Posted in: Disney, Movies | Tagged: disney, real steel, real steel 2, shawn levy

Real Steel Director Isn't Confident That a Sequel Will Ever Happen

Shawn Levy, director of the 2011 film Real Steel, offers fans an update on the status of a potential sequel story.

Real Steel has always felt like the little robot boxing movie that could. Released in 2011, the sci-fi sports drama paired Hugh Jackman with Dakota Goyo as a down-on-his-luck former boxer and the son he barely knows, hustling their way through underground robot fights with an old sparring bot named Atom. At the time of its release, critics were mixed (leaning slightly positive) at the time, calling out the familiar underdog beats, but audiences were much kinder. In fact, the film pulled in an 'A' via CinemaScore and quietly worked its way to just over $300 million worldwide on a reported $110 million budget, enough to be a respectable run.

The cast also helped a lot. Alongside Jackman and Goyo, Real Steel stacked the ring with Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, and Hope Davis, plus slick VFX that went on to snag an impressive Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. Over time, that mix of earnest dad-kid drama and rock-'em-sock-'em spectacle found a second life on streaming.

All of that has kept sequel talk alive for more than a decade, along with periodic updates on a planned Disney+ series set in the same world. In 2022, Disney even confirmed a Real Steel show was in early development with Levy and longtime producer partners involved, and by 2024, Levy was saying they had found writers and were working on scripts. Unfortunately, since then, the project hasn't gained any promising momentum or updates about where the series (or a possible sequel film) actually stands.

Real Steel Director Says a Sequel Isn't Looking Likely

Now, though, the outlook sounds a lot less certain. Speaking to Collider, Levy gave a candid answer when asked yet again about an official sequel. "I feel like we're going to be old men, and you're still going to be asking me about Real Steel, which I love you for." He then adds, "The status is unclear, and boy, I wish that I felt it was more likely to happen than I'm currently feeling it is."

It is a bit of a gut punch for fans who have adopted Real Steel as comfort viewing over the years, and who liked the idea of revisiting Jackman's Charlie and Atom in some form. At the same time, Levy has said in other conversations that he is wary of touching the story again unless he is sure he can do it justice, whether that ends up as a sequel, a series, or nothing at all.

So, for now, Real Steel remains a question mark. Though if that is the only round the story ever gets, plenty of viewers seem happy to keep it in their regular rotation. Would you like to see a Real Steel follow-up?

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