Is a Forrest Gump 2 Movie Releasing In 2025? Timothee Chalamet & Tom Hanks Sequel Speculation Explained

Speculation is running rampant about Dune’s Timothee Chalamet starring in Forrest Gump 2, a follow-up to ’90s classic Forrest Gump, in 2025.

In 1994, mainstream audiences were introduced to Forrest Gump. Played by Tom Hanks (who nabbed an Oscar for his performance) Forrest is a simple man who continually seemed to find himself in extraordinary scenarios throughout the 20th century.

Forrest Gump, directed by Back to the Future helmer Robert Zemeckis, was an enormously successful motion picture and its legacy is surely still felt 30 years later. As such, calls for a sequel have been frequent by some camps.

Is Forrest Gump 2 Real?

Recently, a trailer for a supposed Forrest Gump 2 surfaced on social media and quickly went viral. The trailer in question claimed that the movie would star the original lead, Tom Hanks, as well as Hollywood’s current golden boy, Timothee Chalamet, as Forrest’s son.

The sneak peek was promptly met with animosity by some who argued that classics shouldn’t be messed with. Luckily for those fans, the trailer is, in fact, fake.

However, a theatrical Forrest Gump 2 was, at one point, close to becoming a reality.

Is There Ever Going to Be a Forrest Gump 2?

In 2007, CinemaBlend reported that Paramount, the distributor of Forrest Gump, was making moves to try to get a Forrest Gump sequel into production. Producers Steve Tisch and Wendy Finerman were said to be in talks with Hanks to get him to consider a return to the titular role.

Screenwriter Eric Roth had written a treatment for a theatrical sequel in the early 2000s, one that was an adaptation of the sequel novel titled Gump and Co. In the book, Forrest becomes something of a major celebrity after his life is turned into a popular movie, mirroring real-life events.

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Zemeckis and Hanks reportedly concluded that making the movie no longer seemed relevant. 

And, ultimately, Paramount's second attempt at getting Tom Hanks to return proved unsuccessful. In a 2022 sit-down with Josh Horowitz, Tom Hanks offered the following on the prospect of reprising Forrest:

"I will say this: A smart thing I did was that I never signed a contract that had a contractual obligation to a sequel, because I was always like ‘Guys, look, if there’s a reason to do it, let’s do it… And there is that natural inclination, that is one of pure commerce, that says 'Hey, you just had a hit, so do it again, you’ll have a hit.' And I will say that… with a long time in-between, we did take a stab at talking about another 'Forrest Gump' that lasted all of 40 minutes."

It’s clear that Hanks, one of the most popular and successful actors on the planet and one who can afford to take or not take any role he chooses, doesn’t see any merit in playing Forrest Gump again.

Forrest Gump is available to stream on Paramount+ and can be purchased wherever movies are sold.

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