Hayden talks about Jumper sequel

Posted on June 11, 2008
Filed Under Actors, Actresses, Directors

I remember around 2002, just before “Attack of the Clones” premiered, there was a lot of talk about Hayden Christensen. He was to be the next “Hollywood golden boy”… And then, some time after “Revenge of the Sith” (2005) you had to look very thoroughly ot find his name mentioned anywhere in the press. He just disappeared.
   Now it seems, he’s back. The last few months I’ve seen him in both “Jumper” and “Awake“. I guess it’s safe to say that Hayden got a taste of the “Star Wars-curse”. The curse that actually only Harrison Ford managed to flee from. Well, Nathalie Portman of course, but she already had a career before Star Wars. Only time will tell if Hayden can have a successful “post-Star Wars career”…

The movie “Jumper” is most certainly a step in the right direction for Mr. Christensen and recently he told TorontoSun.com that there is discussions about a sequel.

“We’re talking about it,” the 27-year-old actor says about filming a sequel to Jumper. “I know that they’re having those conversations, I hear about them,” Christensen says of development plans for Jumper 2. Doug Liman would like to eventually take the franchise in the same direction as his Jason Bourne series. Would Christensen sign on again, as Matt Damon did with Bourne? “Oh yeah, and I think I probably will. It was set up to become that – a trilogy – if it did well,” says Christensen. “And I think they’re happy with how it did so they want to make another one. But I don’t think they’re rushing to get into production.”

Christensen “jumped” into the first Jumper with just two weeks notice. Liman had gone into production with a smaller budget, less ambition and a younger lead cast of Tom Sturridge and Teresa Palmer. To up the stakes and make it more adult, the film was shut down, the budget and scale were expanded and the leads recast with Christensen and Rachel Bilson from “The O.C.”

The topic makes Christensen squirm. “It’s a weird thing to even talk about, to be honest, because I feel bad for the kid (referring to Sturridge). “But I was very eager to be a part of it, as well, so there wasn’t really any trepidation on my part thinking it was a little bit of a weird situation. They had shut down production I think for over a month. So it kind of felt like a fresh start for them, as well.”

Well, I wasn’t that impressed with “Jumper,” but that is more of script issue for me. Hayden, I wish you the best and hopefully we will get to see more from you in the coming years.

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