Netflix had an action hit with “The Old Guard” in 2020, starring Charlize Theron, Matthias Schoenaerts, and others as a covert team of immortal mercenaries who must fight to keep their identity a secret.
An ‘Old Guard’ sequel has been filmed, production wrapped in August 2022, but it’s remained dubiously absent in the Netflix calendar. What’s been taking it so long to be released? Theron is telling Variety that “post-production got shut down” by Netflix. What?! She’s blaming Netflix leadership change for the delays.
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.
Theron does confirm that the film will be released, although no exact date was given, and added that she loves the finished product. What I find quite baffling is the reasons given by Theron. I never heard of leadership change delaying an already-shot film, especially if it’s already in the editing stages.
The original film was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. It was a semi-watchable affair, an above-average release as far as Netflix action movies go. Nothing more, nothing less. However, Prince-Bythewood was replaced in the sequel by director Victoria Mahoney whose only other directing credit is 2011’s ill-received “Yelling to the Sky.”