Max Landis Returning To Write ‘Chronicle 2’, Codenamed ‘White Akira Strikes Back’

Max Landis penned the found-footage superhero flick Chronicle  in something like nine hours. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But it did it with the quickness and it was pretty hot. Now he’s being given a chance to answer the bell and pen the sequel.

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It has been a good week for the filmmakers behind the found footage hit “Chronicle.” Just yesterday, it was reported that director Josh Trank was talking with Sony about doing their “Spider-Man” spinoff “Venom” and now another good piece of news has arrived. Screenwriter Max Landis has been re-upped to pen “Chronicle 2,” but whether Trank will come back remains to be seen.

“I’m still not sure [about ‘Chronicle 2’],” Trank told us in an interview a few weeks ago. “I was nervous this type of movie would be perceived as a gimmick, so I was in denial for awhile about what the potential of the film could be.” And while the movie was a big hit, bringing a fresh spin and perspective on the teens-with-powers concept, most agreed that the actual found footage aesthetic was not particularly integral to the story. That said, that approach did allow Trank to show off his abilities to do special effects and provide big screen thrills on a dime (likely the reason Sony is now giving him a ring on the phone).

As for Landis, this gig only raises his already growing profile in Hollywood circles. He’s got a ridiculous number of scripts currently in circulation, most notably, a “Frankenstein” project that has Shawn Levy attached to direct as well as “Good Time Gang” that attracted both Mark Wahlberg and Jonah Hill last summer. Of course, where the story goes remains to be seen, but the door was left just open enough at the end of “Chronicle” that a new tale could be spun. We’d wager the (surviving) cast members will be back and if Landis can bring his smart eye back to the sequel, we’ll be eager to see what he pulls together.

Sold. I really dug the original, and while I’m not certain how the first movie could be topped…fuck it, let him try.