Four years after the first action movie was released, Charlize Theron offers some insight into The Old Guard 2‘s production delay. Based on Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández’s comic book, the 2020 movie followed a team of immortal warriors who currently serve as mercenaries. It starred Charlize Theron, alongside KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Harry Melling, and more. Despite The Old Guard‘s many unanswered questions, the sequel has been heavily delayed with few updates about its progress.
In an interview with Variety, Theron explained the reason for the continuous delays. With Netflix leadership changing partway through production, development completely paused five weeks into post-production. Though the delays have been extensive, Theron did have some good news, as she explained that the production is finally resuming. Check out her quote below:
Netflix went through quite a changeover. We got kind of stuck in that and our post-production shut down, I think, five weeks into it. They were going through a lot of changes, and I totally understand it. We finally picked it back up and I’m really excited about it. It’s really good. It’s a really important film to us. I only wanted to do it if we could make it amazing. I really love this movie.
When Will The Old Guard 2 Be Released?
The Old Guard 2 Has Finally Resumed Post-Production
Theron reported that the sequel wrapped filming two years ago and paused weeks into its post-production period, with the lengthy delay likely resulting from a change in Netflix’s priorities when its new leadership began directing the streaming giant. It is unclear which leadership change Theron is referring to, but a notable shift occurred in January 2023 when Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings announced that he would resign his position as co-CEO and take the position of executive chairman. He was replaced by Greg Peters, who pioneered Netflix’s subscription model.
In the time since, Netflix leadership has settled, leaving an opportunity for The Old Guard 2 to continue its post-production. Theron did not indicate that there were any significant changes to the production, meaning that the movie can continue as planned. If reshoots are necessary, it may be slightly more difficult to schedule time for the actors to return, given the massive two-year delay. It does not currently have a release date, and is unlikely to have a release without a substantial marketing campaign, given the long delay.
As post-production is already well into development, an early 2025 release is a possibility. Netflix has not yet offered any word about the release schedule, but the original movie’s production began in May 2019 and resulted in a July 2020 release. With production already finished, Netflix will be able to skip much of the filming tedium to move directly to a release date. Even late 2024 is a possibility, if Netflix hopes to catch holiday viewers. While the exact date remains a mystery, The Old Guard 2 is back on schedule and preparing to head to streaming.
