Despite the fact that Monsters vs. Aliens grossed $200M here in the States and has sold like hotcakes since it's release on DVD only a few short weeks ago, Dreamworks apparently has no plans to release a sequel. Ok, now I hate pointless sequels as much as the next guy, but this is one case where it makes perfect sense. Apparently the film didn't perform so well overseas, a fact which has Dreamworks accounting department shaking in their boots. Speaking at a conference, Jeffrey Katzenberg had this to say...
I’d like to tell you there’s a perfectly rational, clear and easy answer as to why not, but there isn’t. There was enough of a consensus from our distribution and marketing folks in certain parts of the world that we would be pushing a boulder up a hill.
I understand that Dreamworks has been taking sort of a beating lately, but that's no reason to curtail future plans with one of your few moneymaking franchises. What bugs me more is this seeming over reliance on the foreign market. Is it no longer possible to pull a profit simply through domestic grosses, or has the exorbitant costs of making these films killed that notion? My guess is that Katzenberg is being overly cautious, and that we will see a Monsters vs. Aliens sequel at some point.
BTW, I watched about half that MvA Halloween special last night on NBC and realized just how much I really dig the characters. There's no way that's the last we're going to see of them.
