On Sequel Musings

An idea has been playing at the back of my mind since Tuesday.

A Dead Poets Society sequel.

I’ve been known to pull out old movies and, as a thought exercise, think about what a sequel to the movie could be. Like musing about a sequel to Three Men and a Little Lady (which is really happening), or a sequel to Dave.

The proximate cause, in this case? A thread at TrekBBS about actors going out on a whimper, not a bang. And you look at Robin Williams’ career, and you wonder — what happened?

So, a Dead Poets Society sequel.

Disney apparently considered making a DPS sequel in the early 90s, but Williams had a falling out with Disney after Aladdin which may have scuppered any plans for a sequel. And had the film’s original ending been retained, it’s unlikely that there could have been a sequel; teacher John Keating was to have died of cancer, as I recall.

Let’s take as read that a number of years have passed; it’s been twenty years since the film, after all.

Which route do you go?

Another class of students inspired by their teacher? No, that’s boring, repetitive.

The son (or daughter) of one of the original students, trying to piece together the story of his (or her) father’s life? That has more possibilities…

I’m toying around with the idea. On its own, it’s useless; I’ve no interest in writing a screenplay, even for shits and giggles. But maybe it can be useful in another way. Maybe. 😉

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

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