Forrest Gump 2 Talks Hit A Dead End (Very Quickly)
There was initially some interest in making Forrest Gump 2, and an entire script was written in 2001. Tom Hanks explained why Forrest Gump 2 never happened in a past interview, despite the progress it was making in development.
"I will say that, with a long time in between, we did take a stab at talking about another Forrest Gump that lasted all of 40 minutes. And then we never…we said, ‘Guys, come on.’ A smart thing I did is I’ve never signed a contract that had a contractual obligation to a Sequel. I’ve always said, ‘Guys, if there’s a reason to do it, let’s do it. But you guys can’t force me.’ There is that natural inclination that is one of pure commerce that says, ‘Hey, you just had a hit, so do it again and you’ll have a hit.’”
How September 11 Changed Plans For Forrest Gump 2
While losing Tom Hanks was likely the last straw for the sequel, there were also some outside influences that kept Forrest Gump 2 from being made. Forrest Gump 2 planned to continue the original's focus on American history with some of the biggest events of the late 1980s and 1990s, from O.J. Simpson's arrest to meeting Princess Diana.
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, however, created a problem for that plan. Eric Roth, who wrote the script for Forrest Gump 2, told Yahoo Entertainment that he turned the script in on September 10, and that 9/11 had made the film feel "meaningless."
Forrest Gump 2 Would Have Been A Disaster
In the end, it's probably for the best that Forrest Gump 2 was never made, and some of its plot points made that clear. Eric Roth said that Forrest Gump 2 would have started with his son, Forrest Jr., being diagnosed with AIDS. Focusing on the AIDS epidemic and the Oklahoma City bombing would have made Forrest Gump 2 extremely dark.
Forrest Gump was released in 1994, and its most recent historical event was the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan from 13 years prior, which was only briefly shown through a broadcast news alert. Aside from the obvious problems with depicting such recent events, there's also a sense that Forrest Gump 2 would never have been able to live up to the original.
