ELECTION 2: Alexander Payne Has an Idea for a Potential Sequel to His Acclaimed 1999 Film

Election 2 Could Be in the Works

After the passing of 24 years, director Alexander Payne has revealed that, after a couple of other projects, he may make an Election 2.

Remember Tracy Flick, the ambitious and nerdy (but slightly dangerous) female high school student who outsmarted her middle-aged male teacher in 1999’s hilarious comedy, Election? Flick was played to perfection by Reese Witherspoon in one of her funniest roles while the straight-laced teacher was beautifully portrayed by Matthew Broderick. Though the 1999 movie made only $14 million domestically, it received many kudos from critics. Mainstream audiences were a little less impressed, awarding the picture just a “B-” CinemaScore but the wild humor showcased in the movie won the film a slew of fans who loved the picture. Chris Klein of American Pie fame also had a fun supporting role in the 1999 comedy as well.

Election was based on a book and the sequel (which the director of the first film stated is on his mind), would possibly be based on the follow-up book to the one the 1999 film was based on. That sequel was called Tracy Flick Can’t Win. Tom Perrotta wrote these books. In the literary sequel, overachiever Tracy Flick seems to have turned out to be a single mom trying to become the vice principal of a school. There is no guarantee, however, that Alexander Payne will follow this premise with his sequel to his beloved 1999 movie.

Though Payne is waiting to work on this project, the original movie is getting older as we speak. This is not a sequel to a box-office smash like Top Gun. Election was just a specialty hit at the box-office in the big cities but only a select few may really remember how great it was. Could this film really be worth doing after so many years? It all depends on the quality of the script. Also, Reese Witherspoon would have to sign on again to make the sequel worth doing. She went on to win an Oscar several years after Election for her fine work in Walk the Line.

How could you really make a successful sequel to Election, however, without Matthew Broderick, though? No Hard Feelings for Reese, but Broderick was also the hero of Election for some audience members. It would be nice to see Broderick and Witherspoon’s characters feuding again in the sequel if it ever does come into fruition.

Meanwhile, Alexander Payne is on the Academy Awards’ radar for a Best Director nomination for his upcoming Paul Giamatti movie, The Holdovers which releases next month. If you end up liking that film and haven’t seen Election yet, you may want to check out the 1999 gem before the sequel comes out. You probably have a couple of years or so to watch it as Payne doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get the sequel into production.

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