Back in April, we told you that there was a sequel in the works to Rowan Atkinson’s 2003 comedy Johnny English and that it was hoped that it would be in production by August.
But as cameras begin rolling this week under the direction of Oliver Parker, the sequel has announced some of its cast. Joining Atkinson will be Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), Dominic West (The Wire) and Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day). There is no word yet as to what each of the actors’ roles will entail, but the film’s main storyline will follow Atkinson’s bumbling spy as he tries to stop a group of international assassins from trying to eliminate the Chinese premier.
Although the first Johnny English film didn’t make much of an impression at the box office, only bringing in about $28 million, it did pull in an additional $132 million in ticket sales overseas, according to Box Office Mojo. The movie took a bit of a drubbing from critics, scoring a 33% at Rotten Tomatoes. I enjoyed the film well enough, though to my mind Atkinson’s history-spanning Blackadder series of television comedies still remains his best work. (Sorry, I just can not get into Mr. Bean.)
