A sequel to Jim Henson’s 1986 fantasy adventure Labyrinth has been in limbo for decades, but now it finally appears to be returning from the Bog of Eternal Stench — or wherever long-delayed projects find themselves.
Filmmaker Scott Derrickson, who directed Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange, will direct the still-untitled sequel to Labyrinth. According to Deadline, Derrickson will direct the project from a script penned by Maggie Levin, who wrote and directed the Valentine’s Day episode of Hulu’s horror anthology series Into the Dark, as well as the sci-fi comedy series Miss 2059.
Derrickson was previously expected to direct the sequel to Doctor Strange, March 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but exited the project suddenly in January 2020, citing creative differences with the studio.
Before taking on Doctor Strange, Derrickson was best known for his work in the horror genre, helming a series of well-received films including 2005’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose, 2012’s franchise-spawning Sinister, and 2014’s Deliver Us From Evil.
Little is known about the plot of the Labyrinth sequel at this point, but Lisa Henson of The Jim Henson Company will serve as a producer on the film, with Brian Henson serving as an executive producer along with Derrickson and his frequent collaborator C. Robert Cargill.
The original Labyrinth film cast a young Jennifer Connelly as a teenage girl whose frustration with her infant half-brother leads to her wishing he was taken away by goblins — only to have that exact thing happen. David Bowie famously portrayed the Goblin King, Jareth, who tasks Connelly’s character with making her way through his fantastic labyrinth in order to rescue her sibling.
Connelly’s character meets all manner of fantastic creatures during her journey through Jareth’s maze, all of which were created by director Henson’s acclaimed Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Labyrinth was one of only five films Henson directed, with Monty Python alumni Terry Jones penning the film’s script and George Lucas serving as an executive producer on the film.
Labyrinth underperformed at the box office at the time of its release but went on to achieve cult-classic status, eventually leading to several tie-in novels and comic books. A prior spinoff film was announced in 2017 with Evil Dead director Fede Alvarez attached, but that project was apparently scrapped at some point.
