Why there won't be a sequel to Gareth Edwards' The Creator? Explained

The Creator hit the theaters on September 29, 2023. However, despite earning generally encouraging critical reviews, the film surprisingly failed at the box office. It did earn $103.5 million against a $80 million budget but was an underwhelming performer nonetheless.

The commercial window performance doesn’t look like a deterrent though, as those who enjoyed the movie are eager for a sequel. But, unfortunately for the fans, there will not be any sequel to The Creator, as confirmed by Gareth Edwards.

Edwards, the screenplay writer, director, and producer of the sci-fi action film, has told multiple portals that he has absolutely no plans for a sequel as The Creator was “a completely self-contained story.”

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"No intention to do part two": The Creator director sets the record straight

Since The Creator dealt with the broad topic of a war waging between humans and Artificial Intelligence (AI), there was a huge scope for a sequel. Also, the film did not have any mid-credit or post-credit scenes, which means Edwards could have easily incorporated elements around the advancement of AI or things related to the domain.

However, the filmmaker told The Direct after the film was released that he prefers movies over TV shows simply because “cinema ends.” Gareth Edwards told Russ Milheim of the portal that it was a “self-contained story” and that he had “no intention to do part two or anything like [that].”

His exact words were:

“It was a completely self-contained story. I don't like films personally that tried to set them—you know, unless, you know, going in [that] this is part of a wider story. I feel like it's a bit cocky to just do part one of a three-part thing if it turns out—Basically, my favorite thing about cinema versus television is that cinema ends. My favorite part of the story is the ending.

The Welsh filmmaker further stated:

“… And so I, there's no intention to do part two or anything like [that]. It's a high-class problem to have if this film did well enough that the studio wanted to do that, you know, then you'd scratch your head and have to think about it. But I really, I'm very happy to see this being a standalone, one-off self-contained story. [Those are] my favorite types of films.”

To note, he emphasized the “self-contained story” aspect during his conversation with Screen Rant even before the film had premiered. The Godzilla director mused that he particularly enjoys endings, and even considers them his favorite part of a story.

He said at the time:

“My favorite part of a joke is the punchline. And so I just want it to be this self-contained thing. So I mean, it's a high-class problem. If someone ever came up and said, "We want a sequel." That'd be a really good problem to have. But it is not the plan. No.”

Therefore, it reveals that Edwards never had any plan for a sequel anyway. Even if The Creator had earned twice or thrice its budget and 20th Century Studios, its distributor, expressed interest in a sequel, the filmmaker already had made his mind up.

But people still have high hopes for a sequel for the film that starred John David Washington, debutante Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, and Allison Janney.

Meanwhile, you can buy and stream The Creator on Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube.