Last year's thriller Fall is getting a follow-up film. Directed by Scott Mann, Fall follows Grace Caroline Currey (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) and Virginia Gardner (Gaslit) as a pair of friends left stranded at the very top of a 2,000-foot tall radio tower. Since its release, the movie has become a hit on streaming services. Amid word that it's especially pulling in high viewership on Netflix in the UK, becoming the sedond most-watched film behind only Idris Elba's Luther: The Fallen Sun, Deadline reports that a sequel is now in the workst at Tea Shop Productions with Mann returning to the director's chair.
Fall was also a hit during its theatrical run, banking more than $21 million against a $3 million budget. Its reviews were more on the positive side, garnering a tied 79% rating from both critics and audiences. James Harris of producing studio Tea Shop Productions commented on the show's increased popularity on streaming, happy with how word of mouth has only continued to lead viewers to the film.
“We were pleasantly surprised by how everybody has such a visceral reaction to it,”he told Deadline. “It is one of those movies where word of mouth really helps."
“It’s an easy thing for people to pick up on a streamer," adds Tea Shop co-founder Mark Lane. "You can see the concept in the poster image and we’re finding that if people try it, they are getting hooked instantly.”
What Will Happen in the Sequel?
It's not yet clear if the sequel will feature any characters from the first movie, and Harris says that they're still deciding on whether to link the two films in that way. In any case, viewers should not expect for Fall 2 to be a mere retread of the first movie. While it will presumably involve characters facing danger from great heights, the filmmakers want the sequel to feel like something different. They've even got some ideas in mind that they're fleshing out.
"We’ve got a couple of ideas we’re kicking around," Harris says. "We don’t want to make something that feels like a copycat or less than the first one.”
Perhaps the sequel will be written from the start to be PG-13, which would help the producers save even more money for Fall 2 if they know that's the rating they want from the start. Before its release, it was reported that the Fall producers utilized CGI to remove enough F-bombs from the film to lower its R rating to PG-13, as this was requested by Lionsgate after acquiring the film. It was much cheaper to use "deepfake" technology to remove the foul language than to put everyone through reshoots, to the tune of half a million dollars in this case.
“It can really save movies from spending millions of dollars on very small reshoots," he said. "You can really change the narrative in post in a more affordable way.”
Fall 2 doesn't yet have a release date. The original movie is currently streaming on Starz in the U.S. and on Netflix in the UK.