No matter what universe you belong to, Everything Everywhere All At Once was undeniably one of the year’s biggest, most surprising hits. Receiving some of the year’s finest reviews, while also securing itself as A24’s highest-grossing movie to date, the mind-bending absurdist sci-fi action-adventure comedy isn’t a title that fits under easy descriptions, but it is one that has nevertheless appealed to a wide, multiverse-spanning audience. And deservedly so! Written and directed by genre-bending filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Swiss Army Man), Everything Everywhere All At Once is a boisterous, inventive, ingenious, and massively heartfelt triumph that proves to be a lightning rod of creativity and originality — particularly at a time when such distinctive qualities are increasingly rare to find at your local multiplex.
Thus, it was a given, perhaps, that the question of a sequel would arise. Even though Everything Everywhere All At Once ends on a conclusive note, the ever-expanding multiverse invites some head-spinning possibilities, and Kwan teased such possibilities when the filmmaker proposed the idea of making a continuation about Michelle Yeoh‘s Evelyn being “radicalized” by the influence of the internet and social media. But as this quote started to spread online, the Daniels took to their social media to immediately dismiss the notion that this premise was actively or earnestly being pursued. Moreover, this sequel comment was presumably made when the concept of a second movie seemed like a “comically far-fetched” idea for these inventive directors.
As the Daniels wrote on Twitter, in response to an Indiewire article detailing Kwan and Scheinert’s Sight and Sound interview with fellow filmmaker Edgar Wright, the reports that the Daniels are planning to make a sequel about a “radicalized,” online-addled Evelyn are “not true at all.” Furthermore, Kwan claims that he doesn’t “even remember making this joke,” which the article reports in a straight-faced fashion, and he theorizes that he made this claim back in March when sequel talk was taken much less seriously.
The Daniels On ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once,’ Their Unique Process, And How the Russo Brothers Produced The Movie
Nevertheless, the Daniels have certainly taken ludicrous ideas and spun them into movies that can be as disarmingly funny as they are unsuspectingly profound and moving. So, in that respect, it’s at least a little understandable that Kwan’s original joke could be taken at face value — most especially if it’s coming out months after the film exceeded all expectations to become A24’s most sought-out theatrical experience.
While this tweet suggests that sequel talk isn’t something that the Daniels want to pursue at the moment, they have entertained the notion in the last couple of months. During a May interview with Newsweek, the directors seemed open to the possibility of returning to these characters and exploring their layers — emotionally and within the depths of their multiverses. It’s something they said they’ve been “debating since [they] finished this film, honestly” and noted that, while they’re in the midst of developing various projects, they are grateful for the wealth of fans they’ve acquired from this movie’s success and want to reward the swarm of audiences who came out in droves to see this movie with an enthused follow-up. Kwan said that “we will see what happens” and “see what the universe greenlights first” but claimed to be “actively exploring” Everything Everywhere All At Once 2 — or Everything Everywhere All At Twice.
Of course, Everything Everywhere All At Once isn’t the type of success that is replicated easily. It’s a very personal, expansive, and exhaustive project, the type of film that cultivates from the Daniels’ mastering their style and producing something that’s, at once, indebted to their influences and wholly individualistic to their voice. It’s certainly wise that the Daniels are cautious about making a follow-up that might be inferior to what they’ve done before. But who knows? Maybe the stars in the multiverse will align again?
But not today, per Kwan’s recent tweet.
Everything Everywhere All At Once is available on VOD and might still be playing in a theater near you.