A new Forbidden Zone 2 update from the film’s would-be composer raises hopes that the long-gestating sequel to a 1980s cult classic will still happen.

Inspired by the likes of Popeye animator Max Fleischer and Monty Python artist Terry Gilliam, Forbidden Zone was the ultra-low-budget brain child of Richard Elfman, the cinematically-inclined brother of famed Tim Burton collaborator Danny Elfman.

Elfman’s wildly absurd comedy-musical-fantasy was released in 1980, but was far too bizarre to catch on with a wide audience. Forbidden Zone and its off-the-wall charms needed time to gather a following, and today it’s indeed regarded as a 1980s movie cult classic.

Writer-director Elfman has been trying for years to get Forbidden Zone 2 off the ground, and the project indeed continues to live according to composer Ego Plum, who offered an update while speaking to ScreenRant about his new animated movie Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires, which hits HBO Max on September 13:

It’s Richard Elfman’s bucket list project. I saw him a few days ago, in fact, and we always talk about it. He has a lot of stuff he’s developing and he is trying to raise the money. Things have been difficult as far as raising finances and all that.

Plum then explained how Elfman’s big Forbidden Zone 2 plans have contributed to his difficulty in raising enough money:

Even just the music rights alone [are,] like, upwards of a million dollars because it’s all this classic music that he wants in addition to having his brother and myself score the new one. He’s super ambitious about the way he wants to do it … but we do have the original film, and I encourage everyone to watch Forbidden Zone.

Plum then talked about his own experience seeing Forbidden Zone as a youngster, and how it affected his creative life:

It changed my life when I was 13. It kind of resets your trajectory as far as your taste and who you are because it’s so weird. It’s like a living Fleischer cartoon or something; it’s so bizarre. And of course, [it was] Danny Elfman’s first film score before Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

Plum finished by promising to help make the long-awaited Forbidden Zone sequel happen at last:

And eventually we’ll have a Forbidden Zone 2. I’ll make sure of it. I’m going to keep bothering [Elfman] until it happens.

What This Means For Forbidden Zone 2

Elfman’s Forbidden Zone 2 crusade dates back to at least 2009, when word of it first hit the internet, but it truly kicked into gear in 2014, when Elfman launched a crowdfunding campaign to aid in financing.

Elfman has continued offering sporadic updates via IndieGoGo, indicating in 2023 that the project was still alive, proclaiming that “As long as I am breathing, I will do Forbidden Zone 2.”

Plum’s new update to ScreenRant is indeed good news, as it confirms that Forbidden Zone 2 is still alive. There may have been reason to worry given the lack of updates from Elfman himself, who has been silent on IndieGoGo since that 2023 posting.

Forbidden Zone 2’s crowdfunding effort has raised $120,000 to date, which is $20,000 more than Elfman’s original goal. This won’t be nearly enough, however, as Plum indicates in his remarks that expensive music licensing is in the mix, not to mention the expense of paying the better-known Elfman to write the score, which Plum expects to collaborate on.

Our Take On Plum’s Forbidden Zone 2 Update

Forbidden Zone is a truly strange movie, whose value as a curiosity lies mostly in the participation of Danny Elfman, who not only composed the score, but also appears as the Devil. The film’s surrealist DIY aesthetic, inspired by classic Fleischer shorts and Monty Python animation, is indeed unique, and its energy is genuinely anarchic and zany.

It could be interesting for Elfman to re-visit his Forbidden Zone ideas via a sequel, though anything he makes will likely be quite watered-down compared to the original movie, which includes loads of problematic content. Recapturing the madcap magic of the original film might be difficult, especially if Elfman feels restricted by modern content standards.

It seems Elfman is intent on making Forbidden Zone 2, no matter the difficulties, and after 45 years, he should have plenty of ideas to draw upon.