‘Mortal Instruments’ sequel on indefinite hold

Bad news, Shadowhunters.

Lost amidst last week’s TIFF 2013 hubbub was a fairly major story about a high profile Toronto film production getting shut down indefinitely. The movie in question? The sequel to “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.”

According to series producers Constantin Films, production on “The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes” has been put on hold – and there’s no firm date for when things will get going again. “City of Ashes” was set to begin filming in mid-September in Toronto. The original film starred Lily Collins as Clary Fray, a seemingly normal teenager who becomes embroiled in a supernatural war between angels and demons. The sequel was already well into pre-production: locations had been scouted, and most of the cast and crew were back in town ready to start filming.

“Pushing back the start of production of ‘City of Ashes’ was a decision we did not take lightly. But after speaking with all of our partners on the creative and distribution side, it was clear that it will be beneficial to have more time to reposition the film in the current market place,” Constantin executive producer Martin Moszkowicz said in a statement. “‘The Mortal Instruments’ series has an incredibly loyal and ardent fan base and is a bestselling book series. While taking Cassandra Clare’s vision to the screen, we want to make sure to draw on the full potential of the franchise.”

While Moszkowicz’s explanation was a little vague, the poor box office performance of “City of Bones” is believed to be the real reason behind the sequel’s delay. The $60 million “Bones” (not including marketing costs) tanked at North American cinemas, bringing in an estimated $28 million in ticket sales. The film’s international performance was similarly disappointing; the foreign market take for “City of Bones” was around $34 million. All told the film has grossed nearly $70 million to date – Not a very impressive number when you consider what it cost to produce.

Some have lauded the apparent failure of “The Mortal Instruments” film franchise. Allegations of plagiarism and cyberbullying have dogged series creator Cassandra Clare since she began writing “Harry Potter” fan fiction online - fan fiction that became the basis for “The Mortal Instruments” books. To the surprise of many fans, the author called the “City of Ashes” delay a good thing.

“Speaking for myself — and honestly, for readers and fans, too — I think a delay could be good,” Clare said on her Tumblr blog. “The draft of the screenplay I saw for the first time last week was very far from the book City of Ashes, and if they’d really started shooting in September there wouldn’t have been time to change it.”

The production delay is sure to have an impact in Toronto. The original movie employed hundreds of local film industry professionals, many whom were probably counting on the sequel for work. Luckily though, with several very high profile productions coming to Toronto in the near future – including the Superman vs. Batman “Man of Steel” sequel – those folks may not be out of work for long.