A rumor that has been making the rounds is one that involves the possibility of a Who Framed Roger Rabbit sequel. Director Robert Zemeckis, while out promoting his motion-capture remake of holiday classic A Christmas Carol, revealed that with all this new technology and options, that he thought it might actually be time to finally revisit his insane cartoon rabbit. He even went as far as to promise that though some things might be computer animated or 3-D, Roger and the other cartoon elements would remain as cartoons. Zemeckis then spoke to AICN, and happily explained that he had talked to star Bob Hoskins plenty of times and that he would definitely be up for another go as stressed and depressed detective Eddie Valiant.
This happy news didn’t last too long, though, as Hoskins himself has spoken to MTV News and pretty firmly stated that he wouldn’t be returning for the movie.
Here’s what Hoskins had to say while also out promoting Zemeckis’s Christmas Carol, in which he appears as Fezzywig.
The thing is, you act with cartoons, you got to be able to bounce off the walls like a cartoon. So I’m too old. I’m too old now.
I think he could do a sequel. He wouldn’t be able to do it with me. I’m too old!
The thing about this all, to me anyways, is that it sounds pretty bogus. That’s not to say it’s not true — maybe Hoskins won’t star in a Roger Rabbit sequel, but something about it all feels incomplete, and I do not think this is the last that we’ll hear of it.
Hoskins is 66 years old, yes. And no, he may not be in Harrison Ford shape. But does this REALLY mean that he’d be incapable of acting in another movie with cartoons? The first role did require a bit of physical acting, but with no script yet, Zemeckis still has all the time in the world to figure out a way for Valiant to be involved without the physical requirement. Then there’s the fact that Zemeckis claims that they have talked many times and Hoskins was positive about it; seems fishy that he just randomly change his mind. In all honesty, we all know that another Roger Rabbit without Hoskins just wouldn’t be worth it, so let’s hope a solution is discovered.
This would not be the first time a celebrity said something to the press just to say something to the press, so color me guarded. Whether this ends up being true or not, for now, I call questionable.
No Hoskins. No sequel.
I am up for a sequel either way. Not having Hoskins could force the script into more thoughtful avenues. They won’t rely on repeated success.