It’s been over fifteen years since Darren Shan’s beloved "Saga of Darren Shan" books crawled onto the big screen, and fans are still asking the same question: Where is the Cirque Du Freak film 2? Honestly, if you grew up reading the books, the 2009 movie The Vampire's Assistant felt like a weird fever dream. It tried to cram the first three books of a twelve-book series into a single 109-minute runtime. It didn't work.
The movie ended on a massive cliffhanger. We saw Darren fully embracing his life as a half-vampire, Murlough was dead, and the war between the Vampires and the Vampaneze was just starting to simmer. It was clearly baiting a sequel. But the sequel never came.
What went wrong with the first movie?
To understand why we don't have a Cirque Du Freak film 2, you have to look at the train wreck that was the first film’s production and reception. Universal Pictures had high hopes. They had a decent budget of about $40 million. They had John C. Reilly—who was actually pretty great as Larten Crepsley—and a young Josh Hutcherson before he hit it big with The Hunger Games.
But the tone was all over the place.
The books are dark. They are gruesome. Darren Shan (the author) didn't shy away from the horrific reality of being a teenage vampire's assistant. The movie, however, tried to be a quirky, PG-13 action-comedy. It felt like it was trying to ride the coattails of Twilight while simultaneously mocking the genre. Critics hated it. Rotten Tomatoes currently has it sitting at a dismal 38%. When a movie barely breaks even—earning about $39 million worldwide—studio executives don't reach for their checkbooks to fund a part two. They run the other way.
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The plot we would have seen in Cirque Du Freak film 2
If the stars had aligned and Universal greenlit a sequel, the story would have likely shifted into the "Vampire Mountain" arc. This is where the books actually get good. In a hypothetical Cirque Du Freak film 2, Darren would have traveled to the heart of the vampire world to be vetted by the Vampire Princes.
It would have been a physical movie. We would have seen the Trials of Initiation. Imagine Darren having to navigate caves filled with fire or fighting wild boars in the dark. It’s a far cry from the suburban high school drama of the first film. We also would have seen more of the internal politics of the vampire world, specifically the brewing war with the Lord of the Vampaneze.
There was also the Steve Leopard problem. In the first film, Steve (played by Ray Stevenson) joins the Vampaneze almost immediately. In the books, this is a slow burn, a tragic betrayal that spans years. A sequel would have had to reckon with Steve becoming the primary antagonist, a dark mirror to Darren’s journey.
Could a reboot happen instead?
Forget about a direct sequel. The actors are too old. Darren Massoglia, who played the titular character, is well into his 30s now. The ship for a Cirque Du Freak film 2 with the original cast sailed over a decade ago.
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However, there is a lot of chatter in the industry about a "reboot." We are living in the age of the prestige TV adaptation. Think about how A Series of Unfortunate Events failed as a movie but thrived as a Netflix series. Or how Percy Jackson is getting a second life on Disney+. Darren Shan’s world is perfect for this format. Each season could cover two or three books. You’d actually have time to meet the freak show performers properly instead of them being background cameos.
The rights to the series are a bit of a legal maze right now, but the fan demand hasn't actually gone away. The books still sell. The manga adaptation is still a cult favorite.
Why the "Vampire" trend killed the sequel
Timing is everything in Hollywood. The Vampire's Assistant came out in 2009. That was peak Twilight mania. Audiences were looking for brooding, sparkly romance or high-octane action. Cirque Du Freak was too weird for the mainstream and too "kiddie" for the horror fans. It sat in an uncomfortable middle ground.
By the time the studio could have course-corrected for a sequel, the vampire trend was starting to fatigue. Hollywood moved on to dystopian YA like The Hunger Games and Divergent. Poor Darren Shan just got lost in the shuffle of changing market tastes.
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The Reality Check
Look, the chance of a literal Cirque Du Freak film 2—as in, a movie titled "The Vampire's Assistant 2"—is essentially zero. Studios don't make sequels to movies that lost money fifteen years ago.
But that doesn't mean the story is dead.
If you're a fan holding out hope, your best bet is to keep supporting the original source material. Here is what you can actually do to stay connected to the world of the Cirque:
- Read the "Crequesly" Prequels: Darren Shan wrote a four-book series specifically about Larten Crepsley’s backstory. It’s arguably better than the main series and fills in all the gaps the movie left out.
- Check out the Manga: The art style captures the "freakishness" of the characters way better than the CGI in the movie did.
- Support the Author's New Work: Darren Shan (writing as Darren Dash for adults) is still active.
- Follow Fan Petitions: While they rarely work, they do show production companies like Sony or Netflix that there is a "bankable" interest in a potential streaming reboot.
The story of Darren, Steve, and Mr. Desiny is too good to stay buried forever. It just needs a creator who isn't afraid to let it be as dark and strange as it was always meant to be.
Actionable Insight: If you're looking for the "true" continuation of the story, stop searching for a trailer that doesn't exist. Pick up Vampire Mountain, the fourth book in the series. It begins exactly where the first movie should have led, focusing on the grueling trials Darren must face to prove his worth to the Vampire Clan. It provides the closure and world-building that the film failed to deliver.