If you’re a fan of the cult-classic werewolf horror movie Dog Soldiers, Neil Marshall has some bad news for you. While a sequel to the 2002 film had been in the works, it appears that it is now dead. Marshall broke the news on Instagram – but gave fans some hope, as he also revealed that he’s working on a new werewolf film instead.

In the lengthy post, Marshall reveals that he’d been developing the sequel for six years, and was on the verge of getting a green light earlier this year, but negotiations broke down with the rights holders to the film, making the production of a sequel all but impossible. However, Marshall notes that nobody owns the rights to the concept of werewolves, so he has a new lycanthropic feature in the works: The Werewolves of London. Marshall is keeping any details about the film close to the vest, but he intends to bring back as many of his Dog Soldiers collaborators as possible. London is a classic setting for werewolf fiction, from the 1946 chiller She-Wolf of London to the John Landis creature feature An American Werewolf in London – and, of course, Warren Zevon‘s Halloween-playlist mainstay “Werewolves of London“.

What Is ‘Dog Soldiers’ About?

Dog Soldiers follows six British soldiers (including Sean Pertwee and Kevin McKidd) who travel to the remote Scottish Highlands for a training exercise against a Special Air Service unit. Once they get there, however, they find the SAS troops have been massacred. They’re rescued by Megan (Emma Cleasby), a zoologist, who helps them barricade themselves inside a seemingly abandoned house as they realize they’re surrounded by ravenous werewolves. They’ll have to use all their training to survive until daylight – and there may not just be enemies outside the house. The modestly budgeted film was a hit on home media, and has joined the canon of werewolf movies; earlier this year, Collider‘s Collier Jennings called it “both a bona fide cult classic and a welcome shot of creativity in the arm for werewolf movies“.

Dog Soldiers was Marshall‘s first film. He has subsequently directed a number of horror and thriller films, including The Descent, Doomsday, and 2018’s Hellboy reboot; his most recent was 2022’s The Lair. He has also directed episodes of Game of Thrones, Westworld, and Lost in Space.

Dog Soldiers 2 is no longer in development, but Neil Marshall has another werewolf film, The Werewolves of London, in the works.

via Collider