Variety is reporting the intent to make a sequel to It's a Wonderful Life for release in 2015, with Karolyn Grimes, the original Zuzu Bailey, attached as an angel and…this is all hooey. This script will not get made. This is a publicist-placed story that notably doesn't mention Paramount having comment at all.

The remake, derivative, and so on rights to the original film are tangled up like crazy, as rightly pointed out by Lou Lumenick in relation to the troubles faced by Broadway producers in the 1980's. Since around 2009, actress Karolyn Grimes has been trying to drum up interest and attention surrounding her association with the original movie. She has a very interesting personal story as related in that last linked story from two years ago, but nothing in that Variety "EXCLUSIVE" says anything about production actually being set in stone or that a green light has been given. According to Lumenick, he visited the location used for the movie back in 2009 and was told something about a TV series that was planned to star Grimes.

I wasn't going to post anything until I saw loads of outlets playing exactly into the purpose of the Variety story and reported this "announcement" as fact. There is no green light, and nothing "real" about this announcement other than the intent by some people to maybe make something in time for a certain release date. Producing partners like a script for a movie that they could not possibly have secured the full rights for without official comment from various other parties. Chief among the entities that would have to have something to say for this to be credible would be Paramount. Note they're nowhere to be found.

The actual movie usually drifts between $15-20 on Blu-ray. It'll probably wiggle a little cheaper as we approach Black Friday. Amazon Prime members can stream the wholly unrelated, Peter Capaldi-directed and Richard E. Grant-starring Oscar winner Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life for free.