On Friday (August 27), two days after Chance The Rapper suggested that cult classic ATL did not receive the flowers it deserved, director Chris Robinson released what has been assumed to be the trailer for the sequel to the cult classic, ATL. A closer look at his caption, "HEY @chancetherapper WHAT IF," can actually be read as Robinson reading the room or testing the waters. Chance's tweet was reposted on The Shade Room's Instagram page, the post was liked by more than 500,000 IG users and the comments were filled with reliving the nostalgic memories of watching the film.
ATL was released in 2006 to a core audience of mostly high schoolers who are now sitting comfortably in their thirties. Fans have requested a sequel many times throughout the past 15 years. It is not quite clear what took so long to greenlight the project. We can assume the busy schedules of the film's stars rapper-actor T.I. and actress Lauren London, both of who are parents, played a part. Films cost money, so it can also be possible that lack of funds also slowed the project down. Although the film had moderate success at the box office as we previously reported, the production costs outweighed Robinson's profit.
It was smart for Robinson to capitalize off of the current cultural moment, but the reaction thus far on social media is surprisingly more negative. The comments range from pointing out T.I. recent allegations of sexual abuse to critiquing the quality of the trailer, even questioning how it could be considered a trailer at all (it doesn't show any specific scenes from the movie, just the cast walking) to pointing out that one of the Haqq twins is missing. As of May of this year, Los Angeles Police Department announced an active investigation against T.I. and his wife Tiny is underway.
Are we too old for an ATL 2? Do the allegations against T.I. and his wife determine if you would support the film? Chime in below.