In 2006, armed with a projector and a pointer, Al Gore elevated the issues of climate change to a global audience with “An Inconvenient Truth,” earning the Nobel Peace Prize himself in 2007, and the film taking in close to $50 million at the box office. Naturally, those results would cry out for an immediate follow-up—but as talks of a sequel have emerged, it seems approach is the key factor for all involved in actually making it happen.
“We have had conversations,” producer Lawrence Bender told THR recently about getting the “Inconvenient” team back together, which included Gore, Scott Z. Burns, Davis Guggenheim, and many others. “We’ve met; we’ve discussed. If we are going to make a movie, we want it to have an impact.”
Environmental activist Laurie David supported Bender’s opinions, and argued that the time for that widespread impact is very soon. “Everything in that movie has come to pass. At the time we did the movie, there was Hurricane Katrina; now we have extreme weather events every other week. The update has to be incredible and shocking.”
Though the original film’s exposure of climate issues was considerable, Bender pointed to the fossil fuel industry as diluting the overall message via smear campaigns. “They did a really good job of pushing back and confusing people,” he said. “Some people actually believe global warming doesn’t exist.”
That last point may seem like reason enough for Bender to storm into production on the sequel himself, but Scott Z. Burns has weighed in with a more tempered reaction, saying he “would only support doing a follow-up if we have a really, really amazing way of attacking the issue and reinvigorating it.” It would appear that, though the intent is there, the sequel’s creative team is simply nowhere near agreed on an acceptable method in making it. Let us know, though—would you want to see Gore wheel his Powerpoint presentation out for an encore?