For director Eli Craig, developing a follow-up to his 2010 cult classic “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” has not been easy.
In a recent sitdown with SlashFilm, Craig said he’s made many attempts at developing a sequel, but every version, “for one reason or another,” has failed to make it to the big screen.
“’Honestly, ‘Tucker & Dale 2’ has died more deaths than the college kids in ‘Tucker & Dale,’” Craig said. “We’ve had so many versions that have almost got off its feet or, for one reason or another, have gotten killed. It really does set us back that people can’t look at the box office, the actual box office, of the movie.”
Although “Tucker & Dale” only grossed $223,838 domestically, the film earned $5.24 million worldwide.
“It’s always been a struggle, and then when we do set it up, and we get all the pieces together, it gets killed somehow,” Craig added. “We almost did a TV show with it that was on TNT/TBS, and you’ll be happy to know that David Zaslav, the slayer of all cinema [laughs], came in and put the final nail in the coffin for ‘Tucker & Dale’ as we were about to go to series, and just cancelled all production.”
Craig went on to explain the plot of the potential spinoff series, but maintained that it is doesn’t “exist anymore.” He explained the show would’ve followed Tucker and Dale but as “detectives. Detective Tucker and Dale, like, stupidly trying to figure out what’s happening in a world where they’re always getting it wrong and people are dying around them.”
