Jake Gyllenhaal’s ‘Road House’ Sequel Will Be Here Sooner Than You Think With a Major Change [Exclusive]

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Jake Gyllenhaal lit up by neon lights in Road House

When the Jake Gyllenhaal-led Road House remake debuted on Prime Video back in 2024, it defied middling reviews to become the platform's largest film debut ever, with over 50 million viewers tuning in for the action. The new take on the Patrick Swayze classic managed to thrive on being riotous, brutal fun under the direction of Doug Liman, complete with a cast featuring MMA icon Conor McGregor as a flamboyant hitman tasked with breaking Elwood Dalton's bones. Its sequel, however, may be a more serious affair. In an interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub for the upcoming sci-fi thriller Mercy, producer Charles Roven teased what to expect from Road House 2 and, more importantly, when it will be released.

Road House began with Gyllenhaal's former UFC fighter Dalton receiving a job offer to work protection at a rowdy roadhouse bar in the Florida Keys after scraping by through hustling other combatants on the underground circuit. What really sets the film's events in motion, however, is when Dalton snapped during a title fight and killed his friend in the ring. While Billy Magnussen's villainous Ben Brandt taunted him with his past demons, Roven shared that Road House 2 will go even further in exploring everything that made the former fighter who he is now. The goal is to enrich the character of Dalton based on what viewers see of him in the first film, adding more emotional context to his eventual turn as a bodyguard.

Of course, there will also be more prominent real-life MMA fighters in the fold, as Roven explains:

"I think what’s going to happen is this movie is going to be more emotional because you’re going to understand some of the history. We are going to let people understand why he was the character that he was in the first Road House. Now, I didn’t produce the first Road House. Other people produced it. We have a different director. We have a lot more very famous MMA and UFC fighters in the movie, but there’s also a really great emotional story that you discover as the movie goes on that the first movie just didn’t deal with."

'Road House 2' Is "Very Near the End" of Production

Jake Gyllenhaal squaring off against Conor McGregor in Road House

Opposite Gyllenhaal for the sequel will be Dave Bautista, another potential intimidating threat for Dalton, coming off the action flick Trap House. Leila George is also on board as the female lead, joining Aldis Hodge, Iko Uwais, Andrew Bachelor, aka King Bach, Peter Sarsgaard, and Rob Delaney. Adding to the action credentials is Nobody director Ilya Naishuller in place of Liman, who has since pushed to create his own unrelated Road House sequel after Amazon refused to offer a theatrical release for the first Gllynhaal outing. Despite the shifting of directors not once but twice after Guy Ritchie boarded and dropped out, Roven said that everything is moving apace, and Road House 2 could be here before we know it. "I think it’s out later this year or the beginning of next," the producer continued. "It hasn’t been dated, and it’s only on Amazon Prime."

For a bit more clarity, Roven shared that, "We are in the last 10 days of shooting," meaning that all attention will be turned to post-production soon. From there, he's confident in a quick turnaround, reiterating that the actual production is "Very near the end." Whatever the case, the possibility of getting more brutal, fist-fighting, bar-brawling action with Dalton less than three years after the first film seems very likely.

What To Expect From Roven's Next Film, 'Mercy'?

While Road House 2 wraps up, Roven is focused on Mercy as it nears its theatrical release. The new thriller from Night Watch and Searching director Timur Bekmambetov stars Chris Pratt as Detective Chris Raven, who's currently on trial for the murder of his wife. In this dystopian near future, he's strapped to a chair and placed on trial with an A.I. he once championed, played by Rebecca Ferguson, serving as his sole judge, jury, and executioner. He's left with only 90 minutes to try to prove to the A.I. that he's innocent before he's killed on the spot. Roven joined Bekmambetov as a producer on the ambitious title, which is looking to get pulses racing to start the year off strong for Amazon MGM Studios.

Road House 2 is expected to be out either later this year or early next year on Prime Video. In the meantime, Mercy will be in theaters starting Friday, January 23. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the Gyllenhaal-led sequel as it wraps up filming.