While the original movie remains one of the most acclaimed horror titles of the past decade, Jennifer Kent is still not keen on The Babadook 2. The 2014 horror drama served as Kent's feature directorial debut, adapting her short film Monster and following a single mother and her troubled son as they become the target of the titular entity while still grieving the death of the son's father six years earlier. Despite garnering rave reviews from critics and strong international box office returns at the time, no sequel to The Babadook has been produced, with Kent and another producer holding the rights to prevent one.

During a recent interview with Screen Rant for the Babadook 10th Anniversary Re-Release, Kent was asked whether she had softened on her thoughts of a sequel in the years since. Though the writer/director remained firm she's still not interested in a follow-up, she hasn't closed the door off entirely, on the one condition that "there suddenly became some desperate urge to tell a story related to that". See what Kent shared below:

No, I think I'm too involved in other films that I'm trying to get made. I mean, if there suddenly became some desperate urge to tell a story related to that, I would probably say, "Okay, all bets are off. I'm going to go and make the sequel." But I just can't see that happening. I feel that the idea has really been explored. There are other sort of scary films in the wings, one in particular that I'm really invested in happening, and also a horror series that I've been developing, which I'm really excited about as well. So those ideas are taking over.

What This Means For The Babadook 2's Chances

Kent's lack of interest & busy docket makes it unlikely

Despite the horror genre being rife with endless sequels, The Babadook remains an outlier in its lack of a follow-up, even in spite of its viral popularity. The movie wasn't a box office success in its home country of Australia, but gained significant ground overseas, with the United Kingdom and being the top-grossing regions and helping propel it to its eventual $10.4 million haul. See how The Babadook's Australian box office compared to other major markets in its initial run:

Though finances are a key figure in getting sequels made to popular projects, ownership of rights is the ultimate deciding factor, and with Kent and another producer having held on to The Babadook's rights, her lack of interest does make for a setback in any future sequel plans. This is in addition to the fact that, as Kent told Screen Rant in the same interview, she has quite a busy schedule ahead of her, currently developing a horror TV show and a movie adaptation of an unnamed horror author's works:

I can tell you that I'm teaming up with a very well-known horror writer/author to try and make one of his books. And it's not Stephen King. [Chuckles] So, that's all I can say at this point. We're hoping to release information about that in a couple of weeks. We're in the middle of deal making, but if that goes ahead, I'm super excited about making that next year. I love Stephen King, of course, there's nothing against him, but it's not him.

Our Take On A Babadook Sequel

Not every horror movie needs one

While the lore of The Babadook is rife with the potential not only to dive deeper into, but also be used to tap into other themes for the people it haunts, Kent's belief on why The Babadook 2 shouldn't happen may actually be for the best. As she notes above, the original Babadook's ending did nicely wrap up its story, with Amelia and Samuel keeping the spirit in their basement as both a reminder of their grief, but also to prevent it from terrorizing others.

Given the titular entity was so closely tied to Amelia and Samuel's story, it may also be hard to create a meaningful reason why The Babadook 2 would see it haunt anyone other than them. With there also being 10 years since the original movie's release, and Kent finding equal acclaim with other things like The Nightingale and an episode of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, it may be best to leave The Babadook trapped in that basement for the foreseeable future.