With the trend of sequels, reboots and remakes taking over the movie-going market, it’s surprising to hear when a star hasn’t participated in one of the three. Michael Cera is one of the actors who hasn’t participated in a multi-sequel franchise, and for him, it’s purportedly not due to any resistance to the style. Though he notably turned down the Fantastic Beasts series but had an apt reason to do so.
Cera went on The Louis Theroux podcast to chat about his 2025 movie calendar titles, The Phoenician Scheme and The Running Man remake, among other topics. While in conversation with the host, the topic of franchises came up, and the Superbad alum reflected on his past with the type of movie. He admitted that he has no issue with them but did turn down the next big HP installment after the 8-part empire wrapped, as he said:
I don’t think I have a franchise resistance…. I think I turned one down once. I did. It was the Harry Potter one, Fantastic Beasts.
Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts timeline is a bit bonkers. But seeing the now 37-year-old’s role in Wes Anderson’s latest movie, his bug-filled experience on The Phoenician Scheme makes me wonder what could’ve been.
Arrested Development actor went on to explain the realistic thoughts as to why he made that decision. He highlighted all the regular thoughts involving committing to a multi-movie deal, including time, name recognition and what type of audience he’d be getting exposed to. In his words, he revealed:
I don’t even know if I was offered. I think I just declined to engage with it, and I really think the reason was I didn’t want – well, I think it would be like probably six years commitment or something. But also, like we were talking about earlier, I did sort of make a conscientious choice to, I don’t know, limit my exposure a little bit, or just try and be a little more in control of it. And I felt like doing, especially little kids’ movies, I don’t know, I had a big fear of doing things that I would get too famous.
It’s interesting how he came to the conclusion of rejecting any part of joining the iconic wizarding universe. My best guess as to why have to do with just being shy of 30 at the time and having the experience of being bummed after wrapping Scott Pilgrim. SPVTW could’ve easily turned into a whole career for him, if it had come out a decade later.
Cera concluded the segment by sharing that he’s a little more open to the thought of joining a franchise these days. And if the right one came along, who knows what could happen? He shared:
I think that’s changed a little. I think I’ve outgrown that particular feeling, but I think that’s what that was at that time. But, if a franchise came along now and seemed interesting, I don’t think, on the grounds of it being a franchise, I don’t think I would leave the office.
I’m pleased to know he took his time and did what felt right for him. It’ll be fun to keep an eye out if he does sign on to anything bigger and akin to the 2023 Mattel blockbuster. Cera was radiating Barbie vibes almost a year after it came out, so it seems like the tide may be changing for him.
When will we see Cera in a big franchise? Who knows, but I think I’m going to jump back into Fantastic Beasts with my Max account and imagine if he’d said yes.