Pineapple Express 2 remains uncertain as Rogen hints streaming path

Seth Rogen has kept the door ajar on a Pineapple Express sequel, saying there could be demand and that a streaming release might be a viable path, but he remains cautious about revisiting the project. The remarks come after more than a decade of speculation, stalled by budgeting disputes, shifting studio priorities, and, more recently, the public fractures in Rogen’s longtime collaboration with James Franco. While fans have long hoped for a return to Dale and Saul’s misadventure, the path to a new installment remains unsettled and clouded by broader industry and personal factors.

Pineapple Express debuted in 2008 as a bluntly funny hybrid of stoner comedy and action-thriller, directed by David Gordon Green from a script by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, with Judd Apatow producing. Made for roughly $25 million, the film went on to gross more than $100 million worldwide, earning a dedicated following and a durable place in late-2000s pop culture. Even as the movie thrived, plans for a sequel never solidified, in part because the creative team and the studio explored a higher-budget version that studios weren’t convinced could justify the cost.

Internal discussions in the years after its...