8 Recently Teased Sequels That Probably Won't Happen

The last time Jennifer Lawrence teamed up with director Francis Lawrence, it was on the last three instalments of the wildly popular Hunger Games series. We might have been forgiven for expecting their next collaboration to be a similar slam-dunk.

However, 2018's Red Sparrow was an altogether different kettle of fish. By contrast with the hard-edged but PG-13 rated Hunger Games films, this adaptation of the novel by Jason Matthews is very much an adults only affair, centred on a young Russian ballet dancer coerced into becoming a secret service operative trained to manipulate enemy targets via seduction.

As the novel Red Sparrow was the first in a trilogy written by former CIA agent Matthews, there was always the possibility that it might lead to further films. Both Jennifer and Francis Lawrence expressed interest in a sequel, the director remarking to Metro, "Hopefully it works and we get to make another one."

However, it seems Red Sparrow's provocative approach to the spy thriller format didn't go down a storm with audiences, as the $69 million-budgeted film only made a little under $148 million worldwide, with only a 47% Rotten Tomatoes score.

As such, it doesn't like there'll be much demand for an adaptation of follow-up novel Palace of Treason.