Shane Black open to making The Nice Guys sequel

Shane Black is open to making a follow-up to 2016 action movie The Nice Guys.

Set in Los Angeles in the late ‘70s, the flick followed a private eye played by Ryan Gosling and a tough enforcer as portrayed by Russell Crowe who teamed up to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl.

The Nice Guys received positive reviews from critics but only grossed $62 million (£42 million) on a $50 million (£39 million) budget, with Black now sharing that he will be willing to make a sequel if he can get funding.

“In a heartbeat, if someone would pay for it,” he told Fandango. “We had all kinds of ideas. The problem is it didn't do that well at the box office. I imagine it will break even, which is not a formula for reacquiring two very expensive movie stars and proceeding with a sequel.”

Black, who made his directorial debut with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in 2005, went on to explain that he has plenty of potential storylines for a second instalment in his head and is “ready to go”.

However, right now he is focused on promoting sci-fi horror flick The Predator, the fourth movie in the Predator film franchise. The film follows a young boy (Jacob Tremblay) as he accidentally triggers an alert that brings the Predators back to Earth, with the narrative set in the present day.

“It's always unclear where Predators takes place, but I'm assuming even that is before us. And it's simply an extension of the world established in all of the movies, which we don't deny any of. We assume they're all canon, and acknowledge some more than others, but there's nothing in the movie to contradict that,” the filmmaker said.

The Predator, which also stars Sterling K. Brown, Boyd Holbrook and Olivia Munn, is due to hit cinemas from 12 September (18).