Set It Off was released in 1996, and fans and critics alike have wondered about the potential for Set It Off 2 ever since. The movie helped set the careers of actors Vivica A. Fox, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Kimberly Elise into overdrive and helped establish F. Gary Gray as a visionary director. It follows four friends who turn to robbing banks out of desperation. While the movie is full of tragedy, it is also a landmark movie for Black women who were not often seen as action heroes at the time.

Entertainment Weekly called it an “era-defining film” in a 2019 retrospective and railed against the idea of a remake of Set It Off. That same year, however, news of a remake or sequel was also on the horizon, though whether or not Set It Off 2 will actually be made is a bit murky.

Set It Off 2 Is Not Confirmed

Set It Off 2 has long been rumored to be in development, partly due to the wishful thinking of fans who love the ‘90s movie so much. In 2019, however, The Hollywood Reporter announced that a reimagining of the classic was on the way with Issa Rae and her producing partner Montrel McKay was on board to produce a script written by Syreeta Singleton and Nina Gloster.

Singleton has continued to speak about the potential script in interviews in 2025 while promoting her feature film One of Them Days, but Issa Rae actually shut down rumors of her involvement in 2019. She told Entertainment Tonight she would “never remake a classic.” No studio has confirmed the remake since.

Set It Off 2 Cast

The only cast member currently rumored to appear in the movie is Issa Rae. Despite her ᴀssurances to Entertainment Tonight that she would never remake a classic, she is still the only actor rumored to be attached to the unconfirmed project.

The original cast of Set It Off would likely not be appearing in a sequel or reboot of the franchise. Many of them have been vocal about leaving the movie alone. Queen Latifah, whose character is killed in the original movie, has joked about having a “no death clause” in her movie contracts because of that movie. She told James Corden, “I’m starting to die too good in these movies, and if I die I can’t be in the sequel,” so it’s possible she may have been interested in returning if her character had not already been killed.

When asked about the possibility of a Set It Off sequel in 2014, Kimberly Elise was not enthusiastic about a sequel, but she did want to work with her costars again if it was a different project, explaining to BET:

…A prequel would be pretty interesting, to see how they all got to where they were when the movie started. But really I think the movie is classic in itself and it doesn’t need anything else. I would rather reᴀssemble with those actresses and do something different together, maybe create another classic.

When Vivica A. Fox was asked about the potential for a sequel or reboot while appearing on The Sherri Shepherd Show in 2024, she gave a firm, “No. Absolutely not. It’s a classic!” Fox, like most of the original cast, is not interested in seeing a new version of the movie. As she points out, there are some films that should not be rebooted.

Jada Pinkett Smith also told Where Is The Buzz in 2020 that the original cast would not be involved in a sequel or reboot, saying, “it’s a classic, it’s done,” but that she believed a new iteration of the movie would eventually be made with a new cast, which could be the route a movie would take instead of a direct sequel.

Set It Off 2 Story Details

Because Set It Off 2 is still not confirmed, there are no story details available about the potential movie just yet. Initially, reports were that the movie would be a “reimagining,” which would indicate a reboot of the original story.

If that’s the case, audiences would likely see the original four characters teaming up due to desperate circumstances to make quick cash once again, but in the modern day. Robbing a bank in the 2020s is different from in the 1990s, primarily due to advancements in technology, making it a lot harder to get away with the crime. A Set It Off reboot would have to be updated to reflect the strides made in surveillance, tracking, and more.

Until the Set It Off sequel or reboot is confirmed, however, audiences will not have many answers.