The Robert De Niro 80s Classic That Nearly Scored a Sequel With Jonah Hill

So here’s one that’ll make you raise an eyebrow: Midnight Run, that late-80s action-comedy classic with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, was a lot closer to getting a true sequel than anyone realized. And get this—Jonah Hill or Melissa McCarthy were up for starring alongside De Niro as Grodin’s character’s kid. I know, right? That’s not a combo you hear about every day.

The Lost Sequel That Never Was

The guy behind this buried treasure of a sequel is Timothy Dowling (he’s the screenwriter, in case you’re curious). He recently dropped the news himself on social media, kind of out of nowhere. Here’s how it went down: Dowling says he wrote a follow-up to Midnight Run that would’ve basically done a ‘next generation’ thing—this time pairing De Niro’s grumpy bounty hunter with the long-lost kid of Grodin’s neurotic accountant. At different points, Jonah Hill and Melissa McCarthy were attached to that role. I don’t know about you, but either version seems like a ton of comedic chaos in the making.

The wildest part? According to Dowling, 'De Niro wanted to do it.' But Universal Pictures, apparently, did not. Or rather, 'One exec at Uni never cared and killed it.' So there you have it—a lack of studio enthusiasm smothered what could’ve been a highly meme-able buddy movie for this century.

It is. I wrote a sequel that would have paired De Niro with Grodins child. At various points it was Jonah Hill or Melissa McCarthy. Both would have been amazing. De Niro wanted to do it. One exec at Uni never cared and killed it.

Midnight Run at a Glance

• Released: 1988
• Director: Martin Brest
• Writer: George Gallo
• Stars: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina, Joe Pantoliano
• Plot basics: De Niro plays Jack, a bounty hunter ordered to grab Grodin’s accountant, Jonathan, and haul him from NYC to Los Angeles, all while mobsters and the FBI are in hot pursuit.
• Why it’s a classic: The De Niro/Grodin chemistry makes this way more than a standard odd-couple chase movie. It’s sharp, funny, and somehow genuinely human.
• Sequel status: The only actual sequels were three low-profile TV movies (no De Niro, no Grodin—you didn’t miss much).

But, Wait, Didn’t They Try Again?

Here’s where things get even twistier: In 2021, word got out that a new Midnight Run sequel was cooking, with Regina Hall reportedly set to star. Since then? Radio silence. No news, no updates. This project seems to be stuck in the same studio quicksand as Dowling’s version.

What Could Have Been

Hollywood is full of these stories—great ideas tripped up by executive apathy. But a De Niro/Jonah Hill or De Niro/Melissa McCarthy road trip movie, riffing on the same Midnight Run odd-couple formula, would’ve been a real event. Instead? We’ve just got a great what-if and another studio ‘nope’ for the history books.