Despite the success of the first and second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films, director John Madden has confirmed there will be no third instalment in the series, it has been reported.
The Sydney Confidential column of the Daily Telegraph has quoted Madden as saying “I would douse any expectations of [a third film] right now”, stating that he hadn’t even expected to direct a sequel. Madden also pointed out that his aging cast was making future films difficult.
“Both Judi [Dench] and Maggie [Smith] are aged over 80 now and many of the others are not that far behind and it is a tough place,” he said. “You’re dealing with tremendous heat, a lot of chaos and noise, and things that are difficult to control.
“These are things we had to take seriously because there’s a fragility we didn’t take lightly and I heaved an enormous sigh of relief when we finished the second one that nobody had fallen ill or been injured.”
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, released in 2012, and its sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, together earned over $221m at the worldwide box office, making firther instalments an attractive proposition.
However, Madden said: “Some people mention the franchise word as if it is in some way infinitely extendible and that makes me uncomfortable because a sequel is a word I tend not to use as it seems to suggest you’re making the same film again.”
