The Sequel That Never Was: Forrest Gump 2

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 8, 2008

When a film takes home plenty of cash, the respect of critics, and six Oscars, you’ve got to expect that people will push for a sequel.  Forrest Gump was no different of course and his exploits have continued in novel film but have been absent from theaters, despite work happening on a script.  Scribe of the first film, and Oscar winner, Eric Roth, spoke recently at a junket for his newest opus, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  While talking on how how life is a series of random moments, he mentioned putting his draft of Forrest Gump 2 in the overnight express box on September 10th, 2001.  The next day, the world changed and suddenly the entire story was no longer relevant.

Roth had continued the funny tradition of Forrest appearing at and in all the major historical events throughout the years.  The film would have come to a close with Gump experiencing the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.  Clearly, after the events of September 11th, the storyline, as Roth felt, lost its impact and interest in continuing his story in a new, more sinister world also dissipated.  Roth went on to say that “quite honestly I think that’s the end of it.”  He talked with Robert Zemekis and Tom Hanks and they all agreed that the world changed and everyone was alright with having Gump’s theatrical career ending on the high notes of 1994.

But what if?  Roth spoke very warmly and with great enthusiasm about the script, which he seemingly loved.  So if Gump would have run again, what would we have seen?  Lucky for you, he let us know.

• Forrest Gump as Dance Champion, mastering dances that were all about strict form and repetition.
• Gump and his dance partner heading to Europe.
• Forrest dancing with Princess Diana, who tragically died in an automobile accident, which would have prompted a Gumpism like “some years later that nice young Princess [died].”
• Forrest hiding in the back of the white Bronco during the OJ Simpson chase, with his head popping up in the rear window.
• Forrest Gump tossing the infamous bloody glove.
• As mentioned, the film would end with Gump commenting on the Oklahoma City Bombing.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like it would have been very funny and very interesting to see.  I, like everyone, enjoyed Forrest Gump, but I didn’t fall in love with it.  This film sounded like it would have been a fun trip through some more modern events and I’m a bit sad we’ll never get to see it.  But fear not, as nice guy and great writer Eric Roth has plenty more coming down the pipeline that we’ll keep you informed about. 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button opens on Christmas Day.

What do you think of these Forrest Gump 2 story points?  What would you liked to have seen?

Read more articles by Robert Fure