Over three decades ago, cinema was gifted with the comedic stylings of odd-couple Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in 1988’s Twins, and now, after all this time, they’re back, with the long, long, long awaited sequel, Triplets having gestated for quite some time. Triplets will see Arnie and DeVito reprise their roles as Julius and Vincent respectively, with the duo joined by their long-lost sibling, played by 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan, who now steps in for the previously announced Eddie Murphy, who is no longer attached for reasons unknown.
Directed by Ivan Reitman, the first Twins introduced audiences to the endlessly charming twosome that is Schwarzenegger and DeVito, with the Hollywood legends playing a pair of twins who emerge from an experiment, the aim of which was to create the perfect human being. Separated at birth, they only meet as adults when Julius comes looking for his much shorter, streetwise twin. Reitman, who will also return to helm Triplets, has now revealed the premise for the follow-up.
“Secretly, there was a third baby born, a Black baby, who hasn’t been in touch with his siblings. They don’t know each other and very early in the movie they meet and it’s how they achieve a bond together after all these years. It’s really a film about family and, no matter how different we all are, we have to learn to get along. These guys have great chemistry together, and you can see that in the reel, and how much energy they bring out in each other.”
A sequel to Twins has been on the cards for years, with Eddie Murphy due to star as the estranged third brother. It seems that Murphy has now moved on, and instead Saturday Night Live alumni Tracy Morgan will step in and add his own brand of hilarity to the highly anticipated sequel.
“Twins was quite successful, and some years after, this whole thing started with Arnold meeting Eddie Murphy, and the suggestion came from one of them,” Reitman explained to Deadline. “It was, ‘I should be a triplet, that could be a very funny comedy.’ We started a script with Eddie, and after the success he had with Amazon Prime on Coming 2 America, he got himself booked up heavily. And we knew we were going to make it at the beginning of next year. I’d been good friends with Tracy Morgan for a long time and always thought he was one of the funniest men in the world. I thought he would make a terrific triplet, and we rewrote the whole script for him. Now, we’ll go out and try and put the money together and get it made.”
The first Twins was a bit hit for Universal, raking in $216 million worldwide, and while the movie received mixed reviews from critics upon release, it has since become a cherished slice of cinema for a generation of movie fans.
“I haven’t directed in a couple years, but Arnold kept saying, ‘c’mon, we had such a great time,'” Reitman continued. “I just called him in Budapest and he’s so excited to see how people respond to the reel as we send it out. The initial reaction has been very strong, and how young Arnold and Danny look and how great the chemistry is with Tracy. I had a great time doing the first one, and this is going to be fun.”
Triplets will shoot in Boston, with a script written by Dylan Dawson and Lucas Kavner. This comes to us courtesy of Deadline.