What's Happening With Labyrinth 2?

30 years ago today, David Bowie debuted a brave – even by his outré standards – new look, involving bouffant hair, ruffled shirts, leather gloves and a pair of jodhpurs which left little to the imagination.

The Jim Henson’s classic fantasy ‘Labyrinth’ came out on June 27, 1986, in the US, starring David Bowie as the goblin king Jareth, and Jennifer Connelly as Sarah, the teenager tasked with finding her kidnapped infant brother Toby somewhere in Jareth’s bizarre labyrinth.

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And it had so much going for it – a fine cast, five original tracks by Bowie himself, and dazzling visuals, while feeding into the insatiable lust for fantasy that emerged in the mid-80s which was catered for by movies like Henson’s own 'The Dark Crystal’, 'Legend’, 'The Neverending Story’ and 'Willow’.

Though it’s now held up as a much-loved classic, it was a box office catastrophe – having cost a not insubstantial $25 million, it earned back just $13 million (£9.7 million). It also only got middling reviews.

It only became a cult-hit much later on its release into the home video market, and then received another bump in popularity on DVD and re-screenings on TV.

As well as the popularity in the home viewing market, it also spawned a four-volume Manga comic book series, 'Return To The Labyrinth’, not to mention the many thousands of fan fiction stories that have been published online (the website FanFiction.net boasts over 9000 'Labyrinth’-based stories).

And it was thanks to this strong and now more tangible fanbase that Jim Henson began mulling the potential for a sequel, which was initially to be called 'Curse of the Goblin King’.

However, Henson eventually decided against the idea, making another movie in the spirit of 'Labyrinth’ instead, 2005’s 'MirrorMask’, collaborating with revered fantasy author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Dave McKean (sadly, that was a total disaster too, and has yet to become a cult-hit).

However, since then there’s often been talk about returning to the goblin kingdom.

In 2014, stories began emerging that a sequel was in the works.

Sadly, this proved to be wishful thinking – in fact, The Jim Henson Company was working on new ideas for a 'Fraggle Rock’ movie and a sequel to 'The Dark Crystal’.

It appeared that 'Labyrinth’ was not among the plans.

But then earlier this year, Variety provided a glimmer of hope for fans, with Nicole Perlman, co-writer of 'Guardians of the Galaxy’, said to be working on script for a 'new iteration’ of the movie, which some presumed would mean a reboot, and caused some significant upset among fans.

It was later clarified that the new 'iteration’ would in fact be a sequel, not a reboot, but with Jim Henson’s daughter Lisa Henson set to produce.

Perlman tweeted: “Guys, please don’t fall for all the clickbait. No one is remaking Labyrinth. That movie is perfect as it is.”

The news also emerged just a couple of weeks after the untimely death of David Bowie, and Perlman in particular was quick to criticise the timing of the news, telling The Guardian: “All I can say is that the timing for the story was awful; it felt like a punch in the gut.

“Bowie’s music helped me through some of the hardest times of my life. I respect him as a musician, an actor, an icon and, most importantly, as a human being. It would have been a dream come true, to write something for him.”

She later added on Twitter: “Labyrinth is my favorite film from childhood, so I share your concerns that any continuation of the world be handled with love and respect.”

So yes, a sequel, long-in-gestation as it is, is indeed in the pipeline. But maybe don’t get your magic dancing shoes down from on top of the wardrobe just yet.

Image credits: Rex Features