It’s been a week of surprising sequels. First, The Woods was unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con to be a continuation of the Blair Witch saga. Now, Kiefer Sutherland has confirmed the Flatliners “reboot” is actually a sequel.
In an interview with Metro UK, Sutherland revealed some details about his character in the new Flatliners film, after announcing his return to the cast a few weeks ago. Turns out, Sutherland is reprising his role as Nelson Wright, the (now former) medical student who convinced four of his classmates to stop their hearts so they could find out more about death.
“I play a professor at the medical university. It is never stated but it will probably be very clearly understood that I’m the same character I was in the original Flatliners but that I have changed my name and I’ve done some things to move on from the experiments that we were doing in the original film. I loved making the first film and when I was asked if I would be interested in taking part in this, it didn’t take more than a minute to say yes,” Sutherland said.
We already knew Sutherland was playing a professor in the next installment of the 1990 sci-fi thriller, but it’s exciting to know he won’t just be some random teacher, but rather the mastermind who started it all. Sutherland will be paired with Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, and Kiersey Clemens. Niels Arden Oplev, the director behind the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, has signed on to direct. The film is expected to come out Aug. 18, 2017.