It’s been nearly 30 years since “Mrs. Doubtfire” first hit theaters and became an instant classic.
In a new interview, the 1993 film’s director, Chris Columbus, discussed past sequel plans and why a new chapter may be “impossible.”
Robin Williams, who died by suicide in 2014, played the titular character. Columbus revealed there will never be a sequel because no one could ever replace him.
"It's impossible. It's just impossible," Columbus told the SF Gate. "I just was reading a lot of reviews, ironically, today and about the Broadway show [which opened in New York earlier this week]. And this guy who's playing him [Rob McClure] is supposedly very energetic and phenomenal. But he's no Robin. Robin was one-of-a-kind."
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After working on the film together, Columbus developed a strong relationship with Williams.
“We became very good friends,” Columbus added. “...We spent every weekend together, going to comic book stores and hanging out.”
There had been multiple unsuccessful attempts to get a sequel off the ground. But by 2014, both Columbus and Williams were ready to make it happen.
“The last time I met with Robin before he passed away was about the ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ sequel,” Columbus continued. “We had a script, and it was a great script. Robin was prepared to do it. And then, unfortunately, he passed away.”
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Earlier this year, Columbus struck down the rumor that a NC-17 version of the original PG-13 comedy existed.
"The reality is that there was a deal between Robin and myself, which was, he'll do one or two, three scripted takes. And then he would say, 'Then let me play.' And we would basically go on anywhere between 15 to 22 takes, I think 22 being the most I remember," Columbus told “Entertainment Weekly.”
"He would sometimes go into territory that wouldn't be appropriate for a PG-13 movie, but certainly appropriate and hilariously funny for an R-rated film,” the filmmaker said, before putting to bed the idea that anything raunchier than that exists. “I only [previously] used the phrase NC-17 as a joke. There could be no NC-17 version of the movie.”
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