Netflix’s hit action-thrillerRebel Ridgecould easily become a franchise, but it needs to avoid running into the same problem as a movie it’s often compared to,First Blood.Rebel Ridgehas been a resounding success for Netflix, and talk of a sequel has already started just a month after its release date. There are plenty of potential stories for Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) to get into more trouble, and turningRebel Ridgeinto an action franchise seems like a promising idea. If it does become the next big action franchise, though,Rebel Ridgewill need to learn from the history of action movies.
The premise ofRebel Ridgeinstantly drew comparisons toFirst Blood, one of Sylvester Stallone’s earliest action hits. Both movies follow military veterans who are harassed by a small town police force and decide to fight back against their corruption and biases.First Bloodis a classic for a reason, andRebel Ridgebeing compared to it is far from an insult, but Netflix’s new film has to avoid one potentially massive problem withRamboand quite a few other notable action franchises. If it doesn’t,Rebel Ridge 2could become the first installment of just another generic action franchise.
How Rebel Ridge 2 Set Up A Bigger Sequel
Rebel Ridge 2 Will Need To Up The Stakes Of The Original
Rebel Ridgehas already set up a sequel, and there’s a very good chance that it will be bigger and flashier than the original.There’s always a pull for sequels to “outdo” the original in some way, whether through bigger action scenes or higher stakes, andRebel Ridge 2may be no exception. The sequel could easily bring back characters like Summer, Evan, or Jessica to help Terry again, and having all four of them working together from the start would require a bigger threat for them to take down.Rebel Ridge 2may be inclined to escalate its scope, enemies, and action.
Rebel Ridge Cast & Character Guide
Rebel Ridge unfolds a gripping action drama primarily driven by its well-written characters and the talented actors who brilliantly portray them.
There’s also another reasonRebel Ridge 2may focus on a bigger story: the original was a huge success. The original quickly became the most watched movie on Netflix shortly after it was released, andRebel Ridgeeven regained the top spotalmost a month after it premiered.Rebel Ridgealso achieved such a high viewership with a budget between $25 and $40 million.Rebel Ridge 2would likely have an even larger budget at its disposal, given it’s now an almost guaranteed hit. That could let it include even more set pieces, explosions, and a bigger story.
Rambo & Other Action Franchises Got Bigger & Sillier With Their Sequels
Rambo, Die Hard, & Fast & Furious All Got Goofy After Several Sequels
IfRebel Ridge 2does include more explosions, a bigger story, and higher stakes, it risks running into a problem bothRamboand several other action franchises struggled with.First Blood, the originalRambomovie, was a fairly self-contained and small-scale movie about a veteran fighting back against a corrupt police department. It was intimate, serious, and dealt with some heavy topics like the treatment of veterans after the Vietnam War and post-traumatic stress disorder. The subsequentRambomovies, however, were more about seeing what was the biggest thing Rambo could blow up, and the franchise got rather silly.
First Blood (1982)
Rambo: Last Bloodperfectly illustrates how the franchise lost its serious tone: Rambo literally carves a man’s heart out of his chest and shows it to him as he dies. Action franchises becoming sillier and losing sight of what made the original great isn’t unique toRambo, however.Die Hard, for example, started as a simple story about a cop in a hostage situation, yet inLive Free or Die Hard, John McClane was destroying a fighter jet mid-flight. Likewise, theFast & Furiousfranchise started as a story about street racing, yetFast Xsees Dominic Toretto driving down the side of an exploding dam.
Rebel Ridge is much more grounded and focused, though, so seeing Terry taking down an international conspiracy would lose a lot of the charm the original had.
The continual one-upping of action sequels isn’t necessarily a bad thing. TheMission: Impossiblefranchise, for example, gave Ethan Hunt bigger and more ludicrous missions to complete, and it worked quite well.Rebel Ridge, however, won’t be able to grow in the same wayMission: Impossibledid.Mission: Impossiblehad a somewhat goofy premise from the start, so going bigger never felt like it betrayed the spirit of what made the original so endearing.Rebel Ridgeis much more grounded and focused, though, so seeing Terry taking down an international conspiracy would lose a lot of the charm the original had.
How Rebel Ridge 2 Can Avoid Action Franchise Problems
Director Jeremy Saulnier & Some Story Decisions Can Keep Rebel Ridge Grounded
If it does become a franchise,Rebel Ridgeneeds to avoid falling into the same trap thatRambo,Die Hard, andFast & Furiousdid. Solving that issue is easier said than done, however, especially considering the financial pressure forRebel Ridge 2to outperform the original.Luckily, there’s one easy way forRebel Ridgeto avoid going overboard with its action or story: keeping Jeremy Saulnier as its director. As a director, Saulnier has mostly been concerned with telling small, personal stories, usually on a bare-bone budget. If he continues to direct future installments in the franchise, his influence may be enough to keepRebel Ridgegrounded.
$190,000 - $230,000
$420,000
$5 million
$15 million
Rebel Ridge
$25 - $40 million
There are also plenty of potential story reasons for keepingRebel Ridge 2more grounded in scope.The sequel could take onReacher’s formula and show Terry going to a new town to uncover a new, similarly small-scale conspiracy with a new cast of characters to support and oppose him. There could even be a direct sequel where Terry has to deal with the fallout of his actions in Shelby Springs, a setup that would keep the story localized and significantly raiseRebel Ridge 2’s stakes without going over the top. No matter what solutionRebel Ridgesettles on, however, it needs to make a decision soon.
Will Rebel Ridge 2 Happen?
A Sequel To Rebel Ridge Seems Very Likely
The reasonRebel Ridgeneeds to figure out how to handle a sequel and potential franchise is becauseRebel Ridge 2seems almost like an inevitability. The original was a resounding success both in terms of its viewership and its critical reception.Rebel Ridgeearned aRotten Tomatoesscore of 95%, which makes it one of thebest movies on Netflix.The streaming service will almost certainly want to capitalize on its success, which makesRebel Ridge 2extremely likely to be made. It’s likely still a few years away, but the creators ofRebel Ridgewill need to figure out how to preserve the original’s appeal in the sequel.
Cast
Former Marine Terry Richmond travels to Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin, only to find his savings unjustly seized by a corrupt local police force. With the help of court clerk Summer McBride, Terry uncovers a deep-seated conspiracy and vows to bring justice to the town.
