Ryan Gosling‘s 2016 comedy The Nice Guys has gotten a second chance at success now that it’s streaming on Netflix.
But it may be too little too late for the cult comedy to score a sequel, he says.
The actor expressed his doubt during a recent interview with ComicBook.com. He pointed out that The Nice Guys likely didn’t get a sequel after it premiered because it was outperformed at the box office by The Angry Birds Movie, which premiered on the exact same day.
“So much of a sequel, I think, is decided by the opening weekend of a movie, and we opened up against Angry Birds,” he said. “So Angry Birds just, just destroyed us. Angry Birds got a sequel.”
Indeed, Angry Birds did earn a sequel in 2019 after its success in the box office. The Nice Guys made $US71 million worldwide during its theatrical run, while The Angry Birds Movie earned well over $US352 million.
The Nice Guys became a sleeper hit after it began streaming on Netflix, earning a devoted fanbase online who have expressed interest in a sequel for the buddy cop comedy.
The 2016 release stars Gosling and Russell Crowe as two private eyes who investigate the disappearance of a young girl in 1970s Los Angeles. Angourie Rice played Gosling’s precocious daughter, while Margaret Qualley and Matt Bomer also starred.
Though fans have become better acquainted with Gosling’s knack for comedy after the success of Barbie, The Nice Guys was a sure sign of what would come.
Director Shane Black revealed that they attempted to adapt the movie into a television show but it ultimately didn’t work out.
“We tried it as a TV show,” Black told Slash Film in 2022. “We caught the characters, but the plot was totally different. It was set in present day, and no one wanted to buy it. We had to look elsewhere.”
He also appeared doubtful that a Nice Guys television series would be able to capture the same magic as the film.
[It] wouldn’t have been any good [as a TV series],” he said. “Tonally, TV tends to homogenise … So if you’ve got something that’s a little odd or twisted, chances are the [network executives are] going to take it and just start … [sanding] off the edges.”
This story originally appeared on Decider and is republished here with permission.