Is There a Cause for Stir of Echoes 2?

On the tail end of Summer 1999, "Stir of Echoes" came to theaters with a $5 million opening weekend in the beginning of September. The movie was decent with lots of eerie mood and a twist ending. But, it came out little more than a month after another movie with lots of eerie mood and a much more shocking twist at the end. "The Sixth Sense" had opened in August to the tune of a $26 million kick-off weekend. M. Knight Shyamalan's breakout hit movie starring Bruce Willis about the little boy who sees dead people made $293 million domestically. David Koepp's movie starring Kevin Bacon about a man who gets clues from dead people made $21 million domestically.

Probably the biggest reason "Stir of Echoes" slipped through the cracks was bad timing. David Koepp (screenwriter for the first "Mission: Impossible," "Jurassic Park," and "Spider-Man" movies) wrote and directed the tale about a man who has the psychic door in his head blown open and then the otherworldly invade his mind. It wasn't a bad premise, script, or film, but it was buried in the wake of the sleeper juggernaut of all dramatic horror flicks. But, not much attention has found "Stir of Echoes" since its release on DVD either.

It seems pretty random to come out of nowhere 7 years later with an idea for a sequel, but that's exactly what seems to have happened. "Stir of Echoes: The Dead Speak" will be a follow-up to the original, and it will star Rob Lowe. In his early days, Lowe burst onto the Hollywood scene with a fair amount of scandal as a member of the notorious Brat Pack, but since those times, he's severely cleaned up his act. From "The Outsiders" and "St. Elmo's Fire" to his outstanding and memorable return in Stephen King's TV mini-series adaptation of the "The Stand" and then "Salem's Lot" along with a recurring role on the acclaimed political television drama "The West Wing," Lowe has come a long way to earn himself a new and improved reputation as a respectable actor.

Ernie Barbarash wrote "Stir of Echoes 2" and will be directing Lowe in this film that is set to begin shooting in Toronto come mid-July. Barbarash doesn't seem to have a lot of credentials for such an undertaking, but one of the most interesting footnotes is as a co-producer for "American Psycho." Less interesting is his footnote as a producer on "American Psycho 2." With all things considered, it's hard to see how Lionsgate would want to make this sequel happen. But, there may be a good cause for hope. The story in this one is about a soldier who returns home from Iraq only to find himself with haunting visions.

The premise of a war-addled and quite literally haunted character played by Lowe suddenly gives the movie some purpose. Just as movies emerged soon after Desert Storm, Hollywood is beginning to draw upon the situation in Iraq once again for its inspiration ("Jarhead"), and now "Stir of Echoes: The Dead Speak" is bringing relevant to the table with a paranormal spin on it. This might be a horror thriller sequel that can outdo the original in its reception, but that all depends on whether this follows Koepp's precedent in tone and wit or follows the first one in name only, meaning there is no real way to guess what to expect or what will come of this.