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Universal has started the wheels moving on a sequel to the 1988 classic comedy Midnight Run.
The studio has hired Tim Dowling to write the comedy, with Robert De Niro reprising his role as Los Angeles-based bounty hunter Jack Walsh, the former Chicago cop who hunts the turncoat mob accountant played by Charles Grodin in time to collect a $100,000 fee. George Gallo wrote the original. 
The film is being produced by De Niro and his Tribeca Productions partner Jane Rosenthal. It first came up when Deadline Hollywood revealed that the sequel was one of the films that WME had booked for De Niro before he returned to CAA.
No word on the plot, but Walsh will chase a new fugitive. Charles Grodin, who retired from acting to become a broadcast journalist, won’t return. Dowling’s script work included Role Models and Just Go With It, the Sony comedy that stars Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman.
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Sigh, what’s next? The Godfather remake?
Well, if it’s going to be done, better he does it than Ben Stiller.
wow you people are unbelievably fucking idiots. what kind of self-righteous MORON would play monday morning quarterback with some like Robert De Niro? oh, gee, ‘bobby’ you should leave well-enough alone. Really? you fucking also rans should leave your keyboard alone.
Thank you.
The constant b!tchiness towards de niro is hilarious. He is, due to his vast body of works/characters, one of the greatest actors to have ever worked in film. There is not a better performance on film, in my opinion, than his raging bull.
So, yeah the man’s not done too many great films in recent years, but who has? Considering all that hollywood seems to do is make crappy films starring man-boys who can get the teen girl/boy crowds in.
Midnight Run is one of my favourite De niro films, and while the likeliness of a modern day sequel being better than the original is very low, i would happily rather watch a third rate Deniro film/performance than sit through the crap starring most of the actors of today’s generation (and i say that as a member of their generation).
“Yah-hey everyone. Yah-hey.”
Not excited by this prospect. RdN hasn’t made a good movie in a while now, and is no longer a vital actor as he’s fallen more and more in love with himself.
With nobody but Bobby returning, even though some of the talent is certainly available, it stinks of a Hollywood concoction that will likely become more and more watered down in the creative process to something generic and completely without spark. I smell a potential Shia casting.
That said, I was dubious about a new “Die Hard” movie and that was pretty good, and that last “Rambo” movie was surprisingly effective. They may be able to pull this off, but I wouldn’t wager a nine-figure budget on it.
People forget it didn’t make a dime back in ’88 — it found it’s small cult status later on video and cable. Why would anyone think a big-screen sequel 22 YEARS LATER would work???
It made 81 million plus….which in 1988 was very good. So yeah, it made a little more than a dime…..
And not small cult status…It was very popular with the critics, and audiences, hence the large box office…..This will work if they keep it simple like the first one. And find someone , if Grodin doesnt return, to play opposite him….If they try to special effect it too much, that will sink it..
Dowling is the epitome of a hack. He’s a first draft writer at best. On Role Models, Rudd and Wain had to come in the save the script to make it decent.
How this guy gets picked to write a sequel to one of the best scripts ever made is what’s wrong with Hollywood.
Please tell me George Gallo passed. Then please tell me Richard LaGravanese also passed. Then tell me every other writer who has a clue what they are doing in this business passed before Dowling got picked.
What a mess.
I knew the guy who wrote the original.
He wrote the story on napkins at Jerry’s Deli in STudio City.
To the guy above who claimed it didn’t make a dime: is $81.6 million worldwide in 1988 dollars not good enough for you?
Don’t know Tim Dowling. Never saw Role Models. But over the years I had heard George Gallo wrote this great movie. Think they even have a plaque with his name on it at Jerry’s Deli, Studio City for this. This is a great, great movie. Saw it recently again and it holds up.
So why not just let George Gallo write the new one? Huh?
That movie is perfection. A sequel will be a disappointment.
“Relax Sidney. Have a sandwich. Do some fucking thing.”
the only way this works is if they put nicholson in there with de niro
Yes, Midnight Run, the movie where every punch landed knocks a grown man out cold for as long as the plot requires.
Still. It’s incredibly awesome.
What a shame, watching Bobby D the past few years was like watching Jordan on the Wizards.
If Grodin is not in the sequel, then it will not truly be a sequel. The chemistry between the original leading actors is what made MR one of the best comedies of all time, not to mention the directing and the writing (Mr. Gallo, wonderful job!).
The original made $81.6 million worldwide. In 1988. That’s a modest hit.
There was also some made-for-TV movies with Christopher McDonald if I recall.
No reason for a sequel though. DeNiro’s done them before (“Analyze That”, anyone?) and it rarely a good idea.
Without Charles Grodin it will be a stinker.
I guess they couldn’t lock up the film rights to Jake LaMotta’s second autobiography.
The original was good because of Grodin, not because of the highly overrated DeNiro. The new one will be a flop compared to the first. This just shows how desperate these clowns are to make a buck and keep their faces on screen. Nobody has an original thought so they keep doing remakes and sequels.
The reason why the first movie is so good is because of the script by Gallo and the performance by Grodin.
So let’s make a sequel and include neither of them!
Man.
So the premise is he’s back as a bounty hunter? Guess the coffee shop didn’t work out. Of course if I were your accountant I’d have to advise you against it (the sequel, that is).
All of you whiny “creative” types blubbering about Grodin remember this- no one else wants to see this old fossil in anything. If I was packaging this sequel. I could really make bank. Hook up Deniro with some hot YOUNG face- brains do not need to apply. I’m thinking Meet The Parents +Twilight + Scarface. Unlike you hacks, I know what the public wants because I’m workin it 24/7 baby!
Massive fan of the original since seeing it on the big screen. More worried about the lack of Brest (and Gallo) than Grodin, who was admittedly brilliant in the original film, but at 75 and in a different career space…
buddhabob – any insight into why Gallo wasn’t hired to write the sequel?
I remember reading a blurb about Matt Damon and Edward Norton doing scenes from MR between takes on that forgotten poker move they did.
Forgotten poker mov(i)e?! Are you serious? (And yes, in case you were wondering, “movie” is actually spelled with an “i”…)
But forgotten poker movie? Are you SERIOUS?! We are talking about the movie that is essentially responsible for starting a firestorm poker craze that has become its own mega-industry? That forgotten movie?
I loved Role Models, thought it was hysterical and am very excited to see what Tim Dowling can do with Midnight Run!
Its gonna be brilliant. I loved the first film, and Robert De Nero is a brilliant actor.