When it was released in 2019, Escape Room became a mᴀssive success and the follow-up film. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions in 2021 signaled that a brand-new horror franchise had emerged. Acting sort of like a PG-13 version of the long-running Saw franchise, Escape Room features six diverse strangers who are invited to a mysterious place to take on the escape room, where they will compete to see if they can solve a series of puzzles to win $10,000. Of course, things aren’t as they seem, and a game of life or death is revealed for the contestants.

Adam Robitel (Insidious: The Last Key) directed Escape Room and returned for its sequel, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. The sequel went bigger and bolder, with even ᴅᴇᴀᴅlier and more complex escape rooms. It also brought back two main characters from the first film, who would play a significant role in the sequel and its mind-blowing conclusion. The Escape Room 2 ending set the stage for what was to come, but now feels a bit unfortunate.

Why It Doesn’t Look Like Escape Room 3 Will Happen

Escape Room 2 Was A Box Office Disappointment

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions was a marginally better film than its predecessor, but failed to live up to the high financial expectations set by the first film. Escape Room made a mᴀssive $155 million off of only a $9 million budget, while Escape Room: Tournament of Champions made only $53 million against a budget of $15 million (via The Numbers). This is a mᴀssive drop-off between films, and COVID-19 might have played some part in it, but when sequels underperform like Escape Room 2 did, chances of a franchise making more movies begin to dwindle.

At one time, it really did seem like an Escape Room 3 was being planned out, or at least there were ideas for where the story could go. The director of the first two films, Adam Robitel, sat down with EW right before Escape Room: Tournament of Champions was released and talked about the possibility of what could be in store for the third film, stating:

We have a treasure trove of ideas [for a third Escape Room movie]. It’s really going to be up to the fans. But, look, there’s a lot of ways to skin the cat, there’s a lot of different ways to continue to play with the audience’s expectations. Yeah, we’d be really excited to do that.

Right after the release of Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, Robitel once again talked about Escape Room 3, this time with The Wrap, and explained some ideas floating around for the third film’s story, stating:

Does movie three pick up right on the plane, or is it going in a different direction? I like the idea of opening a movie with the people watching it, like the a–holes who actually watch these games, like they should be thrown into a escape room. Because they’re the real problem, right? They’re the rubberneckers, they’re the ones in the Coliseum watching the gladiators be fed to the lions. So let’s see them get their just desserts.

While it is obvious that Robitel believed that a third film in the Escape Room franchise would be made, there has been radio silence for the series as a whole since Escape Room: Tournament of Champions failed to live up to financial expectations. As more time pᴀsses between Escape Room 2 and a possible Escape Room 3, it looks to be more unlikely than ever.

Escape Room 3 Needs To Pay Off The Mᴀssive Cliffhanger In The Sequel

The Heroes Are Still Trapped By Minos

While the sequel was a solid direction for the franchise to go in, Escape Room 2 left off with a mᴀssive cliffhanger that might never see a proper resolution. TheEscape Room: Tournament of Champions ending reveals that Deborah Ann Woll’s character Amanda from the first film actually survived, and has been designing escape rooms for Minos ever since. Minos then allows Zoey, Ben, and Amanda to believe that they have won and have escaped, but once they get on a plane, it is revealed that it is another escape room, indicating that Minos can never really be defeated.

While this ending for Escape Room: Tournament of Champions could set up a potential third film, it’s really the alternate ending of the sequel that truly primes the franchise for another installment. This version of the film introduces Isabelle Fuhrman’s Claire, the actual puzzle maker, and is obviously setting her up to be the villain of Escape Room 3. No matter what cut of the film is considered canon to the franchise, there still remains a mᴀssive cliffhanger that will likely never be resolved, making Escape Room: Tournament of Champions‘ ending incredibly frustrating. There are so many threads left unsolved.