Back in 2014, a low budget Australian film from a first time director would go on to take the horror genre by storm, and now, 10 years later, Jennifer Kent is addressing why a sequel was never made to her seminal classic, The Babadook. Starring Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman, the Aussie gem tells the story of a grieving widow and her son who must deal with a supernatural threat plaguing their lives, but it’s so much more than that. The Babadook is soaked in themes of mental health, anger, grief, and resentment. It’s a film that doesn’t rely on cheap thrills, opting instead to take audiences on a psychological journey deep into the heart of the human psyche.
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Kent touched on the fact that The Babadook could have turned into an entire franchise of films, something that is usually part and parcel with a horror movie that was produced for very little and became a financial success. Her 2014 debut was made on a budget of around $2 million, and went on to gross $10 million at the box office. Not huge by anyone’s standards, but it obviously turned enough of a profit for there to be interest from studios in continuing the story. However, that’s not something that Kent was keen on pursuing.
“[Producer] Kristina [Ceyton] and I, we could have made millions out of sequels. Absolutely. Like, no doubt. But we just… Kristina knew that I didn’t want to make a sequel. She knew that when we signed the contracts early on. We were lucky enough to have the rights, which now is really hard for filmmakers. It’s often a trade-off to give away the rights to you or to any future endeavors in order to get the first one made. But with this, I just explored what I wanted to say. It just doesn’t feel like a… You know, it could have been, but I think everyone would be really sick of Mr. Babadook by now.”
Does The Babadook Need a Sequel?
It’s probably for the best that things were left as they were because The Babadook worked once, but it probably wouldn’t have worked twice. Its thematic elements were explored to such a high degree in the first film that it would have been near impossible for lightning to strike in the same spot. As such, follow-up movies most likely would have focused more on the monster, unless Kent and company turned their attention to other families in a sort of anthological manner by showing the effects that Mr. Babadook has on people’s lives.
It could be done, but do we really need it? Nope. Like Kent said, she explored everything she wanted to explore with her standalone classic, and if that’s the case, it’s best to just let sleeping Babadooks lie. A movie made for the sake of financial gain, especially a sequel, never turns out quite the way anyone planned, and in the case of The Babadook, it would do nothing more than tarnish the legacy of one of the best horror movies ever made.
The Babadook
is currently streaming for free on Pluto TV, and will return to select theaters on September 19 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Check your local listing to see if it’s playing near you.
