I must be getting old, because I remember a time when Renny Harlin was making movies people went to see, even when that was still a hit and miss affair. Example: The successful Die Hard 2 was followed up by flaming wreck The Adventures of Ford Fairline which was followed up by short-term Stallone resuscitator Cliffhanger which was followed up by the infamous Cutthroat Island. But then came the bounce back via The Long Kiss Goodnight, which took liberal use of Samuel L. Jackson and his rising star. In the years since, Harlin’s given up the good-bad-good formula for bad-bad-bad, and Jackson’s rising star has gone on to untouchable status. Which could explain this story.
Samuel L. Jackson, on the stump for his upcoming haunted hotel room movie 1408, broke news of a “sort of” development project for a Long Kiss Goodnight sequel. Since I haven’t had visitation rights to The Long Kiss Goodnight since ’96*, Jackson’s recent announcement might be motivation for me and anyone else who hasn’t seen Kiss in a while to seek them out.
“We’re talking to writers, you know, getting it together… Actually, we’re thinking, you know, the little girl is grown up now and possibly got some skills passed onto her by her mom. Her mom gets killed and we want to find out who did it." I’m guessing the girl they’re referring to is Gina Davis’ characters daughter.
The story doesn’t include any kind of concrete timeline, but I don’t know if any kind of resuscitation or revisit to Kiss is a good idea. The momentum off that film is long dead and while Samuel L. is a draw, he’s definitely not a guarantor of success either. Despite temptations of nostalgia, there’s no need to squeeze blood from this turnip (or carrot, in this case). Let The Long Kiss Goodnight retain its place as a respected action piece from the ’90s, instead of using it as yet another attempt to jumpstart a franchise 11 years too late.
*I haven’t revisited The Long Kiss Goodnight
since it hit theaters and garnered heaps of expletive-laden praise
(“That was f***ing AWESOME!”). I do remember my carrot-chopping speed
tripled in the weeks thereafter and that a throw-away line about
planning a terrorist attack to kill Americans for a boost in terrorism funding while blaming it on Muslims uncannily echoes modern-day conspiracy lovers.