Seth Rogen has revealed that a ‘Pineapple Express’ sequel was turned down due to budget concerns.
The 38-year-old actor revealed that he was keen on starring in a follow-up to the 2008 comedy movie but Sony baulked at the production budget, which was revealed when the studio was hacked in 2014.
In an interview with Sirius XM, Seth – who also co-wrote the flick – explained: "We tried to make one and thanks to the Sony hack you can actually find the email when Sony decided to kill the movie and not make it.
"It was something we were very open to several years ago, but Sony was not interested in it."
According to a report from The Daily Beast, leaked emails between ‘Pineapple Express’ producer Judd Apatow and former Sony Pictures chairman Amy Pascal showed a discussion about a possible sequel.
Apatow wrote: "I am so glad we are so close to getting ‘Pineapple Express 2’ figured out. I am very excited to make this thing real. We are very inspired creatively on this one. We have hilarious ideas. It is gonna be awesome."
The publication reported that Judd wanted a $50 million budget for the film but Sony bosses demanded that the budget to be limited to $45 million, with Rogen suggesting the sequel failed to materialise as a result for financial reasons.
The ‘Superbad’ star said: "I think we probably wanted too much money. Studios, they don’t like giving away money. Weird thing."