Will There Be A Sleight 2?

“Sleight” was a very unconventional superhero film that fans hadn’t really seen before, especially when most moviegoers were focused on “Captain America: Civil War,” “Doctor Strange,” “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and even “X-Men: Apocalypse” only 1 year before. Clearly, 2016 was another massive year for the superhero genre, and although the premise of “Sleight” is intriguing and abstract compared to the normal Marvel formula, it fell behind in audience reviews.

The plot of “Sleight” follows a young street magician named Bo Wolfe (Jacob Latimore) as he tries to take care of his younger sister Tina (Storm Reid) after his parents are killed. We find out early on that Bo is incredibly intelligent and has even fused wires and magnets into his arm to perform magic tricks on the street for extra cash. Struggling to make ends meet, Bo ends up getting in trouble with some suppliers while selling drugs at night, using his pickpocket skills to gather money. In the end, Bo uses his powers to get himself out of the situation and travel to San Diego safely with Tina.

However, at the end of the film, we see Bo learning a new trick, making the lights flicker as he had done multiple times throughout the film. It sort of leaves “Sleight” open-ended, begging the question about a possible “Sleight 2.” Here’s what we know.

Director J.D. Dillard says there's a possibility for a 'Sleight 2'

Although there is nothing officially confirmed yet pertaining to any kind of sequel for “Sleight,” the ending of the film seems to imply that Bo’s powers have grown over the events of the first film. Speaking in an interview with The Verge, director and writer J.D. Dillard noted the possibilities that “Sleight” leaves the potential for a second movie or even a series. Dillard explained that they chose to purposefully end the movie the way they did for what he refers to as “implied scale.” He wanted to leave the audience curious about the future and what could be possible for Bo’s character, along with being self-aware of the budget they had at the time.

Dillard was also asked about a sequel with a Marvel Studios-size budget for “Sleight,” to which he said that he wouldn’t want that, and for good reason. “We want the budgets of the things we work on to match the needs of the movie,” Dillard told The Verge. “I don’t think the next step would have to be that gigantic.” He would continue that “Sleight” itself brings gigantic superhero themes down to their most “elemental, face-value, practical level.” Giving the sequel that much on that scale would be a disservice to the true nature of what “Sleight” is.

Clearly, Dillard is open to a sequel with the right budget and story in place, although there is still no confirmed news.