Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, no genre was more precious to the canon of film thanangsty high school pictures. FromFerris Bueller’s Day OfftoThe Outsiders, every teen had a movie to which they could relate. But, perhapsthe most relatable of all was the heartfelt, yet homicidalHeathers. While not a box office darling initially, the film became one of the most popular in the teen genre and has gone on to inspire something of a franchise. Sadly, however, the picture itself never received a proper follow-up. It was not for lack of trying, however.The subject of aHeatherssequel was a popular onefor many years. From a zany story that reinvented the original movie’s formula to an impressive cast, this sequel would have been very very!
‘Heathers’ Became Popular After Flopping at the Box Office
Heatherswasn’t exactly at the popular kid’s tablewhen it was released.According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the film opened at #16 on the box office charts before steadily declining to #20 by the end of its run. Over the course of its theatrical stay, the picture only raked in $1,109,471, against its alreadylow $3,000,000 budget. When one considers that (perEntertainment Weekly) the film was pitched as “a Carson McCullers-style novel of a girl who meets the Antichrist as a teenager,” it’s not exactly shocking thatit underperformed. It didn’t help that the film’s distributor, New World Studios,was going bankrupt just as it was released.
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Indeed, the odds were stacked againstHeathers. But even though it ended its theatrical run as a box office bomb, it would find a second life on home video. In fact,The WeekproclaimsHeathersthe greatest sleeper hitof the 1990sthanks to its release on VHS. It was so popular that there was even talk of a TV series (predating the one audiences eventually got decades later) per EW. But, something even greater was planned forHeathers’ future.
Writer/DirectorDaniel Watersadmitted to EW that he had toyed with the idea of aHeatherssequel for some time. He even had a fleshed-out idea that was drasticallydifferent from the original, but one that was absolutely fascinating. “I did come up with this crazy, cockamamyHeathers 2,” he said, “where Veronica becomes a page for a senator named Heather, played byMeryl Streep. The ending is her assassinating the president and getting away with it — and it’s agoodthing.”
Waters wasn’t the only original creative interested in a follow-up. Veronica Sawyer herself,Winona Ryder, was strongly in favor of a sequel. After talking to Waters, she had some strong opinions on what the sequel would look like. “[…]my theory was: There are Heathers after high school,” said Ryder. “And there are Kurts and Rams. Dan came up with: It’s Veronica, years later, she’s in Washington. She’s somehow erased her past. And she’s being blackmailed, there’s like men in suits who know about the Westerberg murders. And I’m like, “What if Christian comes in as the Obi-Wan guy and explains to me…” And I remember the First Lady was Meryl Streep. I’m like, “Guys, this is genius!”
Unfortunately, Ryder admitted that there was alwaysa sense of skepticism after the initial conversation. She explained that Waters would often “snicker” at the idea initially, but Ryder was determined to return. Withthe upcoming release of Ryder’sBeetlejuice, Beetlejuice, the idea of aHeathers 2may not seem so farfetched, but Waters admitted to being flabbergasted when Ryder contacted him with something of a surprise. He recollected: “I told Winona the idea without any more elaboration than I’m giving you, and a year later I hear from her: ‘So I talked to Meryl. She’s in!’ I’m like, ‘What?!’ Waters, sadly, never got around to writing a script. In a recentinterview with CinemaBlend,Ryder admitted the time to make the sequel has likely passed.
‘Heathers’ Continues to Gain New Fans Thanks to the Musical Adaptation
“[…] for years, I was trying to get everybody to get on board with it for Heathers. But I think that ship has sailed,” she explained. “That was another that I thought could be a fun return. This is an absolute first for me, to revisit something. There’s something so special about it … and now, I know, it’s like you’re spoiled. Like you don’t ever want to do this unless it’s absolutely perfect." While a direct follow-up toHeathersmay never happen at this point, the original story hasn’t gone anywhere. Thanks toa hit musical adaptationthat started Off-Broadway andhas since been produced internationally,the legend ofHeatherscontinues to find new fans to this day.
Heathershad a long journey from box office flop to bonifiedcult classic. An attempt at a sequel promised a whole new dynamic for the franchise, but, despite efforts from lead, Winona Ryder, the film will likely never come to pass. But, the legacy of the film continues to draw in new fans to this day, promisinga “very” future for the film.
Heathersis available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
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