Ryan Gosling has revealed why he believes a sequel to his 2016 action-comedy ‘The Nice Guys’ never materialized: it was crushed by bad box office numbers on its opening weekend. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gosling explained that the film’s underwhelming performance against ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ during its debut weekend likely killed any chances of a follow-up. ‘So much of a sequel, I think, is decided by the opening weekend of a movie, and we opened up against ‘The Secret Life of Pets,” Gosling said. ‘So just, just destroyed us.’
‘The Secret Life of Pets’ went on to gross over $875 million worldwide, while ‘The Nice Guys’ only managed to bring in $62 million against a $50 million budget. The film, which starred Gosling, Russell Crowe, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, and Yaya DaCosta, was set in Los Angeles in the 1970s and followed private eye Holland March (Gosling) and hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Crowe) as they team up in an unlikely partnership to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Amelia (Qualley).
Gosling’s comments echo those of director Shane Black, who previously said that he was disappointed by the film’s box office performance and that he had hoped to make a sequel. However, Black also said that he was proud of the film and that he believed it would find an audience on home video.
Despite its disappointing box office performance, ‘The Nice Guys’ has received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The film currently holds a 91% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.3/10 rating on IMDb.
