New The Fly Movie Could Be The Closest We Get To David Cronenberg’s Canceled Follow-Up

The sci-fi horror classic The Fly is getting a follow-up, and from what’s known about it so far, it could be the closest we get to David Cronenberg’s canceled follow-up project. Few sci-fi movies have had the impact that David Cronenberg’s 1986 The Fly had. Loosely based on George Langelaan’s 1957 short story of the same name and the 1958 film adaptation of it, The Fly introduced the world to Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), an eccentric but brilliant scientist working on a secret project. When he meets science journalist Ronnie Quaife (Geena Davis), Seth shows her his invention: telepods for teleportation.

Seth decides to test the telepods himself, but he doesn’t know there is a housefly inside one of the pods. What follows is Seth’s gradual and shocking transformation into a human/fly hybrid, as Ronnie witnesses how he slowly loses his humanity. The Fly was a critical and commercial success, and it even won the Academy Award for Best Makeup in 1987. Despite its success, Cronenberg never made a sequel, though there was one in 1989. The Fly is now getting a follow-up after all these years, and it might be the closest there will be to Cronenberg’s canceled project.

The Fly Is Getting A New Movie (But It’s Not A Sequel)

The World Of The Fly Will Expand Again

The ending of The Fly left the door semi-open to a continuation, though it wasn’t really necessary. At the end of The Fly, Seth fully transforms, and after trying to fuse himself with Ronnie, he ends up fused with the metal door and cabling of the pod. The creature silently begs Ronnie to end his suffering and she shoots him – however, Ronnie is pregnant with Seth’s child, so their fate is left unknown. The Fly II took advantage of Ronnie’s pregnancy and told the story of her and Seth’s son, Martin (Eric Stoltz).

However, The Fly II lacked the quality (in everything) of the original movie and was a critical failure, with a 33% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, the world of The Fly is coming back to life over 30 years after the release of The Fly II with a follow-up, but not a sequel. According to Deadline, the new The Fly movie will be written and directed by Nikyatu Jusu, but it’s a project based on Cronenberg’s movie and not a sequel, meaning it’s an original story set in the same world as Cronenberg’s The Fly.

At the time of writing, no plot details have been revealed about Jusu’s The Fly, but it shouldn’t come as a big surprise given the recent resurgence of body horror. The critical and commercial success of The Substance proved there’s still an audience for body horror and viewers are welcoming of different stories in this genre, and The Fly has plenty of material to use in the world of body horror.

David Cronenberg Was Working On A Follow-Up To The Fly (Also Not A Sequel)

David Cronenberg Had A Specific Idea For Another Movie

The Fly II is the only movie related to Cronenberg’s film that was made, but there are others that were ultimately canceled. Among them is a follow-up developed by Cronenberg, but as he has said that his movies have definitive endings and thus he doesn’t make sequels, this project wasn’t a sequel to The Fly. In 2011, Cronenberg said that what he wrote was more of an “oblique sequel” than a true one, and the following year, he said his idea had been turned down before for not being a sequel (via Empire).

However, the project came across some obstacles, which Cronenberg described as “budget constraints and other things”, though he also added that his script might have been too radical for the studio (via DigitalSpy). Ultimately, Cronenberg’s The Fly follow-up never happened and he didn’t share details about the story, either, but knowing he thought of it as a “sidebar” and not a sequel sounds like what Jusu is about to make with her movie.

How The New The Fly Movie Can Be Its Own Thing But Still Part Of This Universe

The World Of The Fly Might Be Richer Than It Seems

Being set in the same universe as Cronenberg’s The Fly doesn’t mean that the new movie has to bring surviving characters back or link new characters to the ones in the original movie. Instead, it gives the new The Fly movie a very interesting world where teleportation was once real. Modern technology can be used to show that, no matter how much technology has evolved, there are some ideas that are a lot better on paper than in practice, as is teleportation.

The new The Flycan stay true to the world of David Cronenberg’s movie with its special effects and the main character’s transformation, which will be what ultimately makes it feel a part of this specific universe. It’s to be seen what the new The Fly will be about and how different it will be from the original movie, as well as if David Cronenberg will be involved in it or not.

Sources: Deadline, Empire, DigitalSpy.

From legendary director David Cronenberg, The Fly tells the story of Seth Brundle, a scientist who, in attempting to create a device that facilitates teleportation, accidentally merges his DNA with that of a fly, and begins to mutate into a human-fly hybrid. The film stars Jeff Goldblum as Brundle, with Geena Davis as Ronnie Quaife, Seth’s partner and love interest. 

Release Date

August 15, 1986

Runtime

96 minutes