Stephen AmellandRobbie Amellhave signed on to return forCode 8: Part II, the sequel to the unsung low budget 2019 sci-fi that has an interesting history of its own. DirectorJeff Chanwill be back, and he’s also taking a writing credit alongsideChris Paré, withSherren Lee&Jesse LaVercombeadditionally contributing to the screenplay.
Code 8: Part IIwill start production towards the end of 2021, and continues the story of the 4% of fictional Lincoln City’s population who have superpowers, and are forced to register their abilities in order to enable their lives as part of everyday society, while facing discrimination and often violence at the hands of a technologically advanced police force tasked to keep them in line should there be any problems.
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The second installment will follow a teenage girl looking for justice over the death of her brother at the hands of corrupt law enforcement, forcing her to throw in with Robbie’s ex-con Connor Reed and Stephen’s former criminal partner Garrett Kent, as they battle against the authorities to unravel the conspiracy at the center of the story.
Code 8began life as a 2016 short film directed by Chan and starring the Amell cousins, which then became the subject of a crowdfunding campaign to turn it into a feature film, which raised over $2.5 million. The movie scored a limited theatrical release in late 2019, but found a much bigger audience when it was added to Netflix in April 2020, reaching the top spot on the most-watched list in dozens of countries around the world.
A sequel TV series was initially announced for the dearly departed Quibi in December 2019 before the platform shut down, so some elements of the intended short-form version may have been reworked into the feature-length sequel.Code 8drew solid reviews and generated plenty of social media buzz after being added to Netflix, and the bare bones of the premise possess plenty of potential for a low budget sci-fi franchise with some meaty sociopolitical subtext to chew on, so this is one that should definitely be kept on the radar.
