2002 cult British werewolf movie Dog Soldiers was released over two decades ago, and demand for Dog Soldiers 2 has only grown with time. Dog Soldiers was a smaller English werewolf story about a group of soldiers taking part in a routine military exercise in the Scottish wilderness, only to be set upon by vicious beasts. While Dog Soldiers didn't make much of an impact when it was first released, it has since developed a cult following among horror movie fans. With this ionate fanbase behind it, the hopes for a Dog Soldiers 2 have been kept alive — by the director too.
Director Neil Marshall made his feature film debut with Dog Soldiers in 2002. While the premise is straightforward and the budget quite modest, Marshall's skills as a filmmaker helped to elevate Dog Soldiers to become something greater than the sum of its parts. Add to that a talented ensemble of actors in the Dog Soldiers cast and a script far wittier than a 00s werewolf B-movie has any business being, and the original was on to a winning-yet-underappreciated formula that's made Dog Soldiers 2 a sought-after sequel for over twenty years Despite the popularity, it has taken many years for a sequel to materialize, and it's still unknown if Dog Soldiers 2 will ever happen.
Latest Dog Soldiers 2 News
The latest Dog Soldiers 2 news came back in 2021, yet it was a positive update that suggests the sequel is still possible. Director Neil Marshall gave an interview (via returning for The Descent 3, he suggested that Dog Soldiers was always meant to be a new horror franchise. Marshall explains that there could not only be a second movie Dog Soldiers on the way, but a third as well as it was intended as a trilogy from the beginning.
He also gives some insight into why it has taken so long for Dog Soldiers 2 to happen but suggests things could move along quickly now. Marshall revealed that "So, the rights for that have been tied up for quite some time, but now there’s the possibility of a Dog Soldiers 2, finally." Not only is it exciting that more movies in the franchise have already been thought about, but also that there was a practical reason for things not moving forward rather than a loss of interest in a Dog Soldiers sequel.
Dog Soldiers 2 Is Not Confirmed
While Dog Soldiers 2 is not confirmed now, there was a time when it was being actively developed and seemed to be on the way. For those fans who when the sequel was being discussed nearly two decades ago, they are left to wonder why Dog Soldiers 2 never happened. It was first announced in 2004 that Dog Soldiers: Fresh Meat was in development from producer David E. Allen. However, instead of Neil Marshall returning to direct and write, Andy Armstrong took over as director and the script was to be written by Eric Miller.
The sequel continued to run into issues with Armstrong eventually leaving followed by two more directors. In 2011, Allen tried to return to the franchise with a webseries which never got off the ground. With the original writer-director seeking to finish the trilogy and the producer trying to continue on as well, it seems strange that Dog Soldiers 2 has been so delayed. However, it is clear there are some creative disagreements behind the scenes and Marshall appears to be waiting for the rights of the movie to switch hands to allow him to return to the franchise.
Dog Soldiers 2: Cast
As with a lot of horror movies, there was a high body count in Dog Soldiers meaning that the Dog Soldiers 2 cast would need to be mostly fresh faces. In fact, despite well-known actors like Liam Cunningham and Sean Pertwee appearing in the original, only Kevin McKidd's Cooper seemed to make it out alive. It seems more likely that the sequel would focus on an entirely new cast of characters to be the would-be victims of this new werewolf movie.
Dog Soldiers 2: Story Details
Though there does not seem to be much movement on the sequel at the moment, there are some Dog Soldiers 2 story details from when the second movie was actively being developed. In an interview with Fangoria, producer David E. Allen revealed that Dog Soldiers 2 would have picked up right where the first movie left off. It would follow Cooper, the sole survivor of the original as he runs into a group of American soldiers who were meant to be the real opponents to Sgt. Wells' unit in the war games exercise. The soldiers would then encounter more werewolves who Allen teased "may or may not be part of the family" of werewolves from Dog Soldiers.
While it sounds like a solid premise for the follow-up, it wouldn't really work for a sequel that comes out 20 years after the first movie. It would seem that if Dog Soldiers 2 did actually happen, it would need to be a new story with a new set of characters. There has also been talk of a prequel to continue the franchise, possibly looking at the origins of the werewolf family introduced in Dog Soldiers.
