Zing!

No, they knew there was high likelihood that it could be direct to DVD, but the hope/intention all along (during production and even well after post, when several test screenings were held) was going to be for a theatrical release of some sort.

Well, I don't know if that is discussed in the audio commentary (the only special feature I didn't bother with), but they (meaning the writer/producer and the director) must be using some revisionist history during their interviews on the documentary, since they are the ones who talk about it as if they knew it was going direct to video from early on....

I loved the original, but this was pretty bad.

I know exactly what they say in the documentary... I created it. I was also on the set most days and, as I said, while they knew there was a high probability that the film would go directly to DVD (because of the lack of returning main cast), the hope and intent all along was also to get some form of theatrical release. Even as late as December, there was discussion about possibly doing a limited midnight/weekend-only theatrical release for servers, but it just never happened. If you pay attention, the only person who ever directly comments on the direct-to-DVD aspect of the film is Rob, and he also says, "We knew there was a high likelihood of the film going straight to video" not, "We knew for sure that the film would go straight to video." It's a small distinction to make, but a fairly important one.

Not that any of that matters anyway, because it never got a theatrical release.

It's surprising that Lionsgate didn't give them a small theatrical release prior to the DVD release, just to get some sort of word of mouth out there.

Repo! The Genetic Opera got a VERY limited release (even after Lionsgate told Bousman that there was no way in hell the film will make money) and this week's Horsemen is getting a slightly bigger release (75 screens instead of Repo's 7).

If this was the case, why wasn't it made clearer in your documentary then? Rob says within TWO MINUTES of the beginning of it, that they talked about a sequel before the first film was even released....that once it was released and did OK at the box office, he then even states "OK, we'll do it, it will probably be a straight to video movie"....this is before anything was ever written or cast! How would that not give somebody the impression they knew this all along when that is what he is saying at the very beginning??

Thanks for the condescension, but I was paying attention and as I stated above, there does not seem to be anything in the documentary that indicates anyone thought any different about what the film's future release would be.....but hey, it is just MY OPINION of what I am taking away from how the situation is presented in YOUR documentary....if that is not what you were going for, well, I guess it's too late now for a re-edit....

It's not meant to be condescending, it's just a matter of fact. As you already stated, what Rob said was (bolding mine)...
"OK, we'll do it, it will probably be a straight to video movie"
Then the original film did extremely well on DVD and things weren't so cut and dry as they had originally appeared.

But regardless of what they may or may not have thought the end result might be, the fact remains (and it is a fact) that everyone was hoping/working towards a theatrical release of some sort. Whether that was clear to you in my documentary or not, I couldn't care less about. It's not really a very important point to the overall story, nor is it important to me that you have an absolute, crystal-clear understanding of the circumstances under which this movie was made.

There, that was condescending...

Well, Bousman's got a little bit of goodwill with Lionsgate after having directed a few very successful Saw films for them. I would liken it to being good to someone who has been good to you in the past.

Still Waiting... also had some timing issues as any sort of limited release to precede the DVD release would have happened in the late November/December/January timeframe and with the holidays, I just don't think there was a lot of focus for that (especially with all the work being done with Transporter 3, Punisher, and The Spirit at the time). I just don't think it was a real priority.

That's some pretty f***ing wishful thinking when John Michael Higgins is the star of your sequel.