Back in late March 2012, which now seems like the primordial ooze from the vantage point of the bright techno-futuristic landscape of 2015, word began to filter in that yes, someone really was working on a sequel to 1998 Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny DeVito comedy **Twins. Most of the reaction veered between worries about its necessity and questions as to whether it was an early April Fool’s gag, but now it appears its wobbly status has spread to the executives who commissioned the follow-up, as nothing has been heard about the movie since.
And Josh Gad? How does he fit in, we hear you ask (yes, you did, we were listening really carefully). Turns out he co-wrote the script with Ryan Dixon for Triplets, which would continue the story from the original, which saw the Schwarz and the Dan-Man as unlikely brothers, possibly adding in none other than Eddie Murphy as their long-lost sibling.
Taking part in a Reddit AMA for his new film The Wedding Ringer, Gad was asked about the progress of his script. “Uh, you know... the script is actually done,” he admits. “Everybody agrees that it’s great. We wound up doing two drafts. Universal, I think, hit the pause button temporarily for whatever reason – internally I think they are trying to figure out if they want to do a sequel or not. I would say if there’s an outpouring of affection, that may move the needle, but I think it’s on hold right now. But everybody read the script and loved it, so I hope it sees the light of day at some point. It’s there and in great shape.”
To be honest, it’s usually an outpouring of money that actually makes the special green light flash, and we’re not certain there will be a wave of support for the potential film that will convince the bean counters to release the all-important cash, but there is always hope, we suppose.
And what could we expect from Gad’s draft? “The lives have changed in that the two of them find themselves at a major crossroads where they’ve sort of grown apart over the years and what winds up bringing them together is a third brother they never knew they had who could potentially be played by Eddie Murphy...”
Finally, could he be showing up in the film? “Most likely not, just because I wrote the film as a fan of the original movie. It was never written for me to be in it. Having said that, there is currently a role in the movie where Arnold has a son that looks like Danny, and Danny has a son that looks like Arnold. That could be fun, but as of right now, I have no intention of being a part of it.” So now you know.
For now it’s all trapped in a terrifying limbo, waiting for its chance. Get that bucket of affection ready.