Age of the Geek

What if I told you that Chris Columbus, the director that gave us films like "Adventures in Babysitting," the only two "Home Alone" movies worth acknowledging, and the first two "Harry Potter" films, wanted to direct a sequel to one of his other award winning movies. And that sequel would be scripted by David Berenbaum, the man who penned "Elf."

     Now what if I told you that the guy who produced "Jingle All The Way" and both of those terrible "Fantastic Four" movies wanted to create a sequel to "Mrs. Doubtfire" with the man who wrote "Disney's The Haunted Mansion."

     Spin is interesting, isn't it.

     But yes, no matter how you want to look at it, "Mrs. Doubtfire 2" is apparently going to be a real thing.

     I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel about this.

     My first instinct, one I assume is shared by most people upon hearing about a sequel to a twenty year old film, is to roll my eyes and continue to morn the death of creativity in Hollywood.

     Have we really fallen so far that we needed to put Robin Williams back in a dress? Have we run out of 80s franchises to revive that we need to move on to the 90s? What about that "Beetlejuice" sequel that Michael Keaton and Tim Burton have been talking about?

     And why would you pick "Mrs. Doubtfire" of all things to bring back? I mean, if we're going to dig up Robin Williams vehicles from the early 90s, how about a follow up to "Hook" or "Jumanji?" At least those movies presented a universe that merits further exploration.

     "Mrs. Doubtfire," had a pretty definitive ending. Robin Williams proved how much he loved his kids, got a TV show where he pretended to be an elderly woman, and lived happily ever after. What situation could you possibly put him in where twenty years later he would need to don that disguise again?

     On the other hand, I'd like to believe that Chris Columbus has anticipated this. No rational man would push for a Mrs. Doubtfire sequel unless they had a pretty compelling story that could only be told with a cross-dressing actor, right?

     But what hook could there possibly be?

     Okay, it's twenty years later. Robin Williams has retired his character and is enjoying a moderately successful revival of his voice acting career when he gets tangled up in the mafia and the only way out is for him to join the FBI and go undercover as an elderly Scottish lady.

     Or maybe they can bring Pierce Brosnan back into it? The man who married William's ex-wife has now gotten himself into a situation of sorts and the only rational way out is for him to go to Williams for make-up advice.

     It practically writes itself!

     As I said, I'd like to think that there is a method to this madness. That the people in Hollywood are self-aware enough to recognize a movie needs more than the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia to succeed. But that's just not true.

     I know Hollywood people. They don't think like you and I do. When it comes to making movies, they love the things we hate and they hate the things we love. If a movie becomes an unexpected hit, it was probably an accident.

     Is "Mrs. Doubtfire 2" doomed to failure? Probably, but at least with those expectations it will be hard to be disappointed.

     Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and is holding out for a "True Lies" sequel.