As someone who (quite surprisingly) really enjoyed ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones‘, I was a little bummed to hear that the sequel was delayed due to poor box office sales. Thankfully that’s all been taken care of now as the next installment, ‘The Mortal Instruments: City Of Ashes’, will be shooting in 2014! I’m pretty sure that the low box office sales were a surprise to everyone involved due to the huge fan base of the novels as well as the studio having already announced that a prequel was already in development though there has been no word if that was shelved when the sequel was delayed.

At the very least, fans of Cassandra Clare’s series can rejoice that ‘City of Ashes’ is a go and will be resuming production next year!

With it’s $60 million budget and another $60 million put in promoting the film, it’s no surprise that word on the sequel was iffy when the first movie only made $31 million domestically. When adding in worldwide revenue, the box office take was only at about $100 million. Depending how much actually went into marketing it’s a solid possibility that the film is still in a state of loss prior to DVD and VOD sales. Thankfully Canstantin Film’s are pushing forward with the sequel anyway due to the positive reception from those who have seen it. The company’s head of film and TV, Martin Moszkowicz, has this to say on the movie:

“The fan response, from the blogosphere and the thousands of mails we have received, has encouraged us to keep going. It’s been overwhelmingly positive, in contrast to some other YA titles. We are analyzing what we did wrong with the first film — particularly with the positioning and marketing — and what changes we have to make. We are working with a great group of people to reposition the franchise [for City of Ashes].”

So that’s a plus. One of the key things, though, is that while this franchise is a YA market, the fans of the series also have an older fan base unlike most YA faire. Therefore, there might be more of a focus to market to the 20 to 30 year old fans (which would probably have made me want to go see the film and not accidentally, but happily, get taken to it.) Honestly,  the initial marketing hadn’t done anything for me as I felt they were trying to make it into another ‘Twilight’. Hopefully they’ve learned from their mistake!

So hopefully this means the marketing and style will be a little bit less high school feeling and more marketed towards the YA/adult crowd.

Were you a fan of the film? Happy to hear they are making a sequel and might be playing with the style a little? Let us know below!

‘Mortal Instruments: City Of Ashes’ Synopsis

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t ready to let her go—especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary’s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings—and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter