HanWay Films
When it was originally released in 2014, director Adam Wingard's The Guestdidn't quite light up the box office. While it scored strong reviews from critics and film festivals, The Guest and its blend of sci-fi, action, thriller, and comedy elements made it a difficult movie to market. Making the release even more challenging was that star Dan Stevens, who had impressed viewers with his work in Downton Abbey, hadn't secured much of an American following, so it was only niche genre enthusiasts who turned up to see the movie.
In the decade since the movie's release, though, streaming availability as well as Stevens, Wingard, and star Maika Monroe have become more prominent in pop culture, causing newcomers to revisit that collaboration, which then ignites excitement for a possible sequel. While the cast and crew have expressed their interest in a possible sequel, and with Wingard releasing a faux soundtrack for The Guest 2 in 2022, it's a regular topic of conversation in virtually any interview that the trio tak part in.
Now, speaking with MovieWeb ahead of the release of The Terror: Devil in Silver, Stevens confirmed that his upcoming movie Onslaught, which comes from Wingard and The Guest writer Simon Barrett, isn't an official sequel to the 2014 cult-classic, but that it feels like a successor to that experience:
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"I'm loving just continuing to collaborate with Adam and with Simon. We've got Onslaught coming out later this year with A24. Adria Arjona is the lead. It's absolutely incredible. It's Wingard back on home turf. Batsh*t action thriller in the desert. It's not a sequel to The Guest, but it is very much, if you liked The Guest, you're probably going to like Onslaught. And it's very much in the same universe of super soldiers gone bad and that kind of thing, which we love."
In the original The Guest, Stevens stars as David, who visits the family of a former member of his military unit to pay his respects. He is welcomed with open arms, though the more time he spends with Anna (Monroe), her parents, and brother, the more it becomes clear that David isn't who he seems. When the government is alerted to his whereabouts, David's intentions – and battle abilities – become all the more mysterious.
Part of what has made demand for a sequel so high, in addition to the movie growing more popular over the years, is how the final moments of the movie tease that David might only just be getting started. However, getting a follow-up to a cult classic doesn't always satisfy those asking for one, with Stevens reflecting on whether a second movie should ever be made:
"I've been enjoying the April Fool's tradition that we've had with it over the last few years. I don't know if we did anything this year, but certainly for the last few years on April Fool's, we've put out, like, Adam commissioned an entire album for The Guest 2 from his favorite musicians, some of whom played on the first album. He and Simon have written a whole treatment of what a sequel might look like. Some of that is hinted at on the cover of the album for The Guest 2. It's great. If we ever get to make it, awesome. I think it will inevitably be better in everyone's imaginations than if it were to actually happen."
Stevens and Wingard previously reunited on Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and while Stevens is returning for Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, Wingard is handing directing duties over to Grant Sputore. Onslaught doesn't yet have an official release date, but you can see Stevens in The Terror: Devil in Silver when it premieres on AMC+ and Shudder on May 7.