Mark Hamill Announces That A 'Corvette Summer' Sequel Starring Himself And Annie Potts Will Finally Happen
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Thirteen years between the original Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water was a long time. How about forty-six years between a movie and its sequel?
In June 1978, Metro Goldwyn-Meyer released Corvette Summer. The film was about a teenager, who tried to get his stolen 1973 Corvette Stingray back from his criminal high school teacher. It was Mark Hamill's first movie after his breakthrough in Star Wars, and the marketing for Corvette Summer relied heavily on his new stardom. Its posters even advertised "Mark Hamill, who you loved in Star Wars." Needless to say that Corvette Summer paled against the box office juggernaut Star Wars, but with a global revenue of $36 million and a production budget of only $ 1.7 million, it was still a commercial success. But it never got a sequel.
Mark Hamill pointed out that a sequel was discussed in the past:
"There were talks about doing another one right after the first one had come out. But then I was busy doing Empire and then I was busy doing Jedi, and by the mid-80s I have never heard anything about it again. Until I got the call from Matthew."
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Matthew Robbins, who directed Corvette Summer and co-wrote the script together with Hal Barwood, recounted how the sequel came about:
"When we were shooting [Corvette Summer], I constantly took notes about things I would like do in a sequel. But when the studio didn't greenlight the movie, I moved on to other projects and then completely forgot about it. About a year ago, I found these notes in a closet and started to look through them. Many were just garbage or things that might have worked in the late 70s or early 80s but not in the 21st century, but some of these ideas were actually quite good. I guess that about half of the final script is based on this old, filthy notebook.
When I was finished, I called Mark [Hamill] and asked him if he would be interested to star in Corvette Summer II, and he replied with two questions: 'Are you really sure you want to do this?' And 'Is there a part for Annie?' I said yes to both, and he was like, 'Ok, send the script over.'"
Image Source: Reel Film
Hamill was relieved to find that this would not be like his infamous Luke Skywalker cameo at the end of The Force Awakens:
"The script is really clever and funny. Of course, I'm not the main character anymore, but it is refreshing to be in a sequel where I get to do more than just stand around and look worried. But before I agreed I wanted to make sure that Annie is on board too."
Annie, of course, is Annie Potts. Corvette Summer was her big screen debut six years before her famous role as the receptionist in Ghostbusters. She had similar reactions as Hamill:
"One day, I got a call from my agent, who said he got a script for a ‘Corvette Summer’ sequel, and I was like: 'What? This old hat, no one even remembers this.' But, you know, I'm 70 now and can't be too picky about my roles, so I said, 'Ok, I'll give it a look. And I have to say it's one of the best scripts I've read in quite some time. A few days later, Mark Hamill called and he said, 'I'll only do it if you do it,' and I answered, 'Yeah, me too!’ And well, here we are."
Image Source: Reel Film
With both his stars from the first movie signed on to return, Robbins, who has worked on Dragonslayer and Batteries not Included and has collaborated with Guillermo del Toro, hopes to start shooting in May or June of this year. He aimed to release Corvette Summer II in March or April of 2024:
"It is called Corvette Summer, after all, so we have to use the warm weather, and I still need to complete the casting of the younger actors, but I'm confident that it will all work out."
In addition to casting the next generation of characters, Robbins has another task on his to-do list:
"I really want to use the Corvette Stingray model we had in the first one. Mike Yager sold it to a collector in 2009, and I tracked him down and asked if he would lend it to the production, but he declined. He's probably worried that we will wreck his baby. Which we most likely would do."
Image Source: HotCars
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Source(s): Retroflicks
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