A sequel to a cult classic that struggled to find its own identity
In short: An American Werewolf in Paris arrived in 1997 with high expectations but faced a turbulent production history. Despite a $25 million budget and an international team, the film was panned by critics for its reliance on CGI and uneven tone, ultimately becoming a cautionary tale in franchise filmmaking.
The journey to bring a sequel to John Landis’s 1981 hit, An American Werewolf in London, was fraught with creative friction. PolyGram Pictures sought a follow-up as early as 1991, but Landis eventually walked away after the studio rejected his script. Subsequent drafts by John Lafia and the team of Tom Stern and Tim Burns were also discarded or heavily reworked. By the time Anthony Waller took the director's chair, the project had undergone years of revisions, including contributions from writers like Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who added the iconic bungee jump sequence.
The film’s production was defined by shifting visions. Original writers Stern and Burns aimed for a compelling, logical villain, but were pushed aside when the studio sought a more cartoonish antagonist to suit a higher budget. The final product, starring Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy, moved away from the practical, Oscar-winning makeup effects of the original, opting instead for CGI-heavy transformation sequences. This choice became a primary target for critics, who felt the digital effects lacked the visceral impact of the predecessor.
Commercially and critically, the film struggled. While it grossed $26.6 million against its $25 million budget, it failed to capture the cultural resonance of the first film. Reviews were largely negative, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting a 6% approval rating. Even John Landis expressed his disappointment, calling the result lousy. Despite the film's poor reception, it did leave a minor mark on the music industry; its soundtrack featured the Bush single 'Mouth,' which found success on Billboard charts, even as the film itself faded into cinematic obscurity.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: An American Werewolf in Paris
- Also: Wikidata — An American Werewolf in Paris · CC0
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