Glen Powell is certainly the man of the moment. After Top Gun: Maverick and Hit Man, he stars in the budget sequel Twisters, out this summer. Stars could be aligning for him again as a CNBC interview with Oscar-winning producer Brian Grazer has surfaced.
In it, Grazer talks about projects in flight for his production company where he partners with Ron Howard – Imagine Entertainment. One of those projects he mentions in the interview is a sequel to 1991 firefighting thriller Backdraft.
The original, directed by Howard, was a big hit. It starred William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro, Jason Gedrick, and J. T. Walsh. It told the story of a group of Chicago firefighters who find themselves caught up with a serial arsonist setting fires all over their city.
In the interview, he brings up Powell’s name and says he is considering the role.
There was a smaller, direct-to-video sequel many years later, but never a full-on sequel. Backdraft even had a Universal Studios theme park experience based on it that was eventually replaced in 2011 by Transformers 3D.
Backdraft received three Academy Award nominations for Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects. William Baldwin’s character of Brian McCaffrey was a much sought-after role in Hollywood, with Robert Downey Jr., Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves all auditioning for the role.
The movie was notable for using real fire wherever possible, meaning the sets were considered highly dangerous and required several real-life fire crews on hand at all times.