Naomi Ackie has joined They Follow, the long-awaited sequel to It Follows, but the real story is not the casting; it’s why this took eleven years to happen. The original It Follows earned $23.3 million against a $1.3 million budget, making it one of indie horror’s biggest success stories. In an industry that typically rushes sequels into production within two to three years, an eleven-year gap for a profitable cult phenomenon is basically unheard of.
Maika Monroe is returning as the lead, and based on her comments, the wait might have been worth it.
I was sent the script and I thought it was incredible. It’s also very different from the original.
Monroe told JoBlo. She also revealed the sequel’s tone:
It’s very dark. We’re pushing the boundaries on this one for sure. The original was a litle more heightened and dramatic, and this I think is really quite grounded.
The shift sounds deliberate.
Mitchell’s Creative Detour and The Horror Challenge
The delay traces back to director David Robert Mitchell’s creative process and the projects that pulled him away. Mitchell’s Under the Silver Lake faced multiple delays between 2018-2019, occupying his attention during what should have been prime sequel years. A24 delayed Under the Silver Lake‘s release twice due to mixed reception at Cannes Film Festival, creating a messy production timeline that likely impacted Mitchell’s availability for horror projects.
More telling is Mitchell’s own admission about the ideas for the sequel.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have other ideas, or that I wouldn’t consider making a sequel, I would certainly consider it if I was excited enough about those ideas. I am 100% against something that explains what it is about: an origin or connecting it to something magical.
He said in 2016. This was not a director eager to churn out a quick follow-up; this was someone who understood he had caught lightning in a bottle and was not about to waste it on a rushed sequel.
Mitchell has also been working on a Warner Bros IMAX project that was delayed to 2026, suggesting his creative priorities have been scattered across multiple ambitious projects rather than focused solely on returning to the world of It Follows.
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What the Decade Gap Actually Means
The extended timeline might be exactly what They Follow needed. Horror franchises often struggle with sequels due to creative stagnation and the challenge of recapturing original magic, and many horror sequels fail because they force continuations of stories meant to be standalone. Mitchell’s methodical approach suggests he was waiting for the right story, not just the right opportunity.
Monroe has evolved as a horror actress in the decade since It Follows, appearing in films like The Guest and Watcher, bringing more experience to a character she originated as a relative newcomer. The sequel is set ten years after the original, mirroring the real-time gap, which allows the story to grow with its lead actress rather than forcing an immediate continuation that ignores the passage of time.
Extended development periods can benefit horror sequels by allowing more thoughtful approaches, exactly the opposite of what most studios do with successful horror properties. While franchises like Saw or Insidious pump out sequels every few years, Mitchell took the time to figure out what They Follow needed to be, not just what it could be.
Principal photography is set to begin in the months to come, suggesting the long development period is finally paying off. If Mitchell’s comments about the sequel being more grounded and pushing boundaries are accurate, the eleven-year wait might have been exactly what this story needed: time to become something worthy of the original rather than just a quick cash grab trading on a beloved film’s reputation.