Why Jon Watts Canceled Wolfs Sequel With Brad Pitt and George Clooney

Director Jon Watts was all in for a Wolfs sequel with George Clooney and Brad Pitt but recently explained why he changed his mind.

“I showed Apple my final cut of Wolfs early this year,” Watts, 43, said in an interview with Deadline published on Saturday, November 23. “They were extremely enthusiastic about it and immediately commissioned me to start writing a sequel. But their last minute shift from a promised wide theatrical release to a streaming release was a total surprise and made without any explanation or discussion.”

Watts claimed that he was not told about the decision “until less than a week” before Apple publicly announced the film.

“I was completely shocked and asked them to please not include the news that I was writing a sequel,” he told the outlet. “They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to create a positive spin to their streaming pivot.”

The director shared that he “quietly returned the money” for the sequel to the streamer. Watts explained that he didn’t “want to talk about” the sequel drama before since he was so proud of Wolfs.

“I loved working with Brad and George … and would happily do it again,” he said on Saturday. “But the truth is that Apple didn’t cancel the Wolfs sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner.”

Deadline noted that Apple remains open to a Wolfs sequel since the streaming service considered the movie a success.

Us Weekly has reached out to comment.

Watts raised eyebrows on Friday, November 22, when he told Collider that he didn’t have plans to expand the Wolfs universe despite Apple’s confirmation of a sequel.

“I don’t know what I’m directing next,” he said at the time. “And I don’t think there’s going to be a Wolfs sequel.”

Wolfs stars Clooney, 63, and Pitt, 60, as two fixers who are forced to work together on a job despite preferring to operate solo. In addition to Clooney and Pitt, the cast also includes Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Poorna Jagannathan and Zlatko Burić.

The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September. Watts did not attend the premiere due to catching COVID-19. That same month, the action-comedy had a limited theater release before becoming available on AppleTV+.

The film was an instant hit for the streamer as it became the platform’s most-viewed film. After breaking records for the service, Apple released a statement gushing over the project.

“When George, Brad and Jon approached us with the idea for Wolfs, it was an easy call — a crackling, fun movie starring two Oscar winners who everyone knows are iconic together,” Apple Original Films’ head of features said in October. “Now, audiences have chosen in droves to make Wolfs part of their weekend, making the movie a global blockbuster. We always consider Apple TV+ to be the home for the world’s most talented artists to create and deliver their best work, and it’s exciting to see audiences embrace that so overwhelmingly.”