The Amateur's director revealed where exactly he'd love to take Rami Malek's Heller on his next international adventure if a sequel were to happen. While another movie is not confirmed, the ending of the first film leaves the door open for Heller's story to continue in some form.
Disney and 20th Century Studios invited The Direct to Washington, DC, to visit the International Spy Museum. There, we explored the history of spies alongside The Amateur director James Hawes. Shortly after, The Direct's Russ Milheim was given the opportunity to interview the filmmaker in a paired interview setting.
Of course, Hawes was asked about the opportunity of a potential sequel or what international location he would love to visit next if The Amateur 2 becomes a reality by The Direct. Some places from the first film include Istanbul, Madrid, Romania, and Paris.
Hawes listed "South Asia," "Vietnam," "Cambodia," and "Namibia" as exciting choices:
James Hawes: Okay, well, first of all, I went to Istanbul in this one, which wasn't in the book or the script originally, because it felt contemporary and it felt edgy and dangerous. So my brain would be going, Okay, where can I go that feels contemporary and relevant, and also were sexy and visual. So I'm thinking Southeast Asia. I haven't been to Vietnam, Cambodia, I can see some stuff to do there. The other place, which is incredibly visual, but I can't think of the story, is Namibia. So anybody's got a movie they'd like to pitch?
Another journalist asked Hawes if there had been any conversations about a sequel, and the director confirmed that there had been "almost none."
Though he did open up about one "little secret," which is that "the scene with Henderson in the parking lot near the end was not in the original script"—a moment that could easily set up a potential sequel:
Hawes: Almost none, honestly... Let me give you one little, little secret here. The scene with Henderson in the parking lot near the end was not in the original script. That was additional photography, and part of that was because we found ourselves enjoying the relationship between those two so much and the way it develops... You don't know if this guy's gonna give him a hug or shoot his kneecaps, and that became so much fun that we wanted him back for some sort of sign off. So, obviously, he says doing a show and tell here, there is the possibility, and that was left lingering, but has not been discussed.
The Direct then asked if, through maintaining authenticity for The Amateur, there was ever anything they had to change or remove from the film because it was too close to reality. Hawes confirmed that there was, but he couldn't say much about it. However, Hawes went into depth about some material in the film that can absolutely happen in the real world:
Hawes: Well, let me tell you about two things. Obviously, we were talking about the video mapping and the digital chat, we called it, when Heller sends out these other things, they said, Oh yeah, we do that. We absolutely do. You can spoof systems. You can spoof planes into thinking that they've had missiles launched at them. They don't know what's coming their way. We can take remote control of boats.
A lot of what really inspired us was their ability to improvise. So these operatives will be put into some sort of hostile territory, and their ability to make a lethal weapon out of stuff found on street corners and marine parks is terrifying...
What Could The Amateur 2 Look Like?
Given that Rami Malek's Heller is safe and still works for the Agency at the end of The Amateur, it feels like James Hawes has free rein to do whatever he wants if the story continues. Further exploring the fun dynamic between Laurence Fishburne's Henderson and Malek's Heller could make for an enjoyable adventure.
Another fun relationship that The Amateur could explore is that between Heller and Jon Bernthal's (who is going to have his own The Punisher MCU special next year), character, the Bear.
Additionally, there are fan theories that Rachel Brosnahan's Sarah isn't dead. While the original movie never explored that idea, it's an easy direction to take.
All the locations that director James Hawes would love to explore (South Asia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Namibia) would make for stellar locations—so it's hard to go wrong with any one of them.
While the chances of a sequel remain uncertain, the original movie performed decently at the box office, making $96 million worldwide. That total clears the estimated budget of $60 million (not accounting for marketing), so The Amateur 2 is still possible.
The Amateur is available to purchase and rent on VOD platforms.
