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Bean & Johnny English Sequels in the Works Source: Variety Sunday, November 2, 2003

Working Title and Rowan Atkinson have decided to develop sequels to Bean and Johnny English, in the hope of getting one or the other into the theaters sometime in 2005.

Bean, the 1997 spin-off from Atkinson's hit TV series, grossed $238 million worldwide. But it took him six years to follow up with the spy spoof Johnny English which reached $157 million.

The two sequels will be developed with their original writers - Robin Driscoll and possibly Richard Curtis for Bean, and Will Davies for "English." According to Bennett-Jones, Atkinson intends to make both movies, but which comes first will depend entirely on which script progresses faster.

Working Title is currently in production with its first sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, although co-chairman Eric Fellner suggests that technically this isn't a sequel. "Sequels are created out of whatever the first film was," Fellner tells Variety. "This is an adaptation of a book."

There's also a follow-up in the works to the 1998 historical drama Elizabeth, which starred Cate Blanchett. Writer Michael Hirst and director Shekhar Kapur are working on The Golden Age, which deals with the 16th century reign of England's Queen Elizabeth I.