Director Bruce McDonald Details ‘Pontypool’ Sequel Plot, Says Script Is Finished
A ‘Pontypool’ sequel just got a whole lot closer, as director Bruce McDonald says the script is finished while offering plot details.
Canadian horror film Pontypool (2008) is one of those where, once you see it, you never forget it. An eerie little tale about a radio host (Stephen McHattie) who, while on the air, learns of a virus that infects others through language, the film is a wholly unique slice of contained terror. Fans (me) have been hoping for a sequel for forever. And it now sounds like we’re much closer to that becoming a reality.
Our friends at Rue Morgue report that, following a Pontypool screening at the Fantasia International Film Festival, OG director Bruce McDonald offered some plot details and assured that the script is finished.
“Tony [Burgess] and I just finished the script a few weeks ago,” he explains. “The working title is TYPO CHAN, which are letters found in PONTYPOOL CHANGES.
As for plot details, he reveals: “It’s set in a rehab center where they’re attempting to rehabilitate the victims of the virus to be able to speak properly again and act normal, and kind of reverse the day of the viral outbreak in the town. They’re doing the work in a public school, and the transmission, the radio broadcast itself, is being kept under lock and key, because the transmission is the virus.”
Hmm, what could go wrong?
Continued McDonald, “Like the first one, it’s a bit of a love story. There are three central characters: a doctor and a couple who went through the virus together. We’re now in talks with a few companies to see who’s going to come on and play.”
That all sounds fantastic. Once again, it sounds as if we’re dealing with a contained story, which, in my mind, is how you pull maximum tension out of the premise.
Can a Pontypool sequel catch that same lightning in a bottle that the original did? Hard to say. But with both McDonald and screenwriter Tony Burgess returning, the potential is there.
Stay tuned to Dread for any word we hear on the sequel. Hopefully there won’t be a virus in said words.
