Road House 2 Levels Up: Peter Sarsgaard and Rob Delaney Join Jake Gyllenhaal for Amazon MGM

Amazon MGM Studios is treating Road House 2 like a daily advent calendar of casting news. Today brings two more: Peter Sarsgaard and Rob Delaney are hopping into the sequel opposite Jake Gyllenhaal. At this point, I half expect another name drop by breakfast tomorrow.

Today's additions

Per Deadline, Sarsgaard (September 5, Presumed Innocent, Memory) and Delaney (The Occupant, Dying for Sex, Bad Monkey) have joined Road House 2, the follow-up to Doug Liman's 2024 punch-up that turned the original into a modern barroom brawl.

This week's casting blitz (so far)

• Thursday: Peter Sarsgaard and Rob Delaney sign on with Jake Gyllenhaal.
• Wednesday: Iko Uwais (The Raid franchise), Andrew 'King Bach' Bachelor (Violent Night 2), and Hidetoshi Nishijima (Shin Ultraman, Sunny) join the cast.
• Tuesday: Six new pro fighters boarded the sequel — Rico Verhoeven, Michael Chandler, Michael 'Venom' Page, Dustin Poirier, Stephen Thompson, and Tyron Woodley — plus returning fighter-turned-stunt pro Jay Hieron, who is back as UFC bruiser Jax 'Jetway' Harris. Yes, the announcement said six and then listed seven names; the clean read is that six are new and Hieron is the returning seventh.

What we actually know about Road House 2

Plot? Still locked in the back office. What is clear: Jake Gyllenhaal is back as Elwood Dalton, the UFC fighter-turned-bouncer who can clear a room faster than last call. Cameras are rolling (or about to) across the U.K., Malta, and Savannah, Georgia.

Ilya Naishuller is directing. If the name rings a bell, he cut his teeth on music videos, then crashed onto the scene with the first-person frenzy Hardcore Henry, followed that up with Nobody (the one that turned Bob Odenkirk into a very credible action star), and most recently Heads of State. Road House 2 is his fourth feature.

The bench is deep: Leila George, Aldis Hodge, and Dave Bautista are part of the extended cast. Producing duties are split between Atlas Entertainment's Charles Roven and Alex Gartner and Nine Stories Productions' Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh McLaughlin. Nine Stories is in the middle of a three-year first-look film deal with Amazon MGM, so this pairing makes sense.

What Sarsgaard and Delaney have going on

Sarsgaard is currently filming a series adaptation of Neuromancer. That one follows a damaged hacker named Case who gets yanked into digital espionage and high-stakes crime alongside Molly as they aim a heist at a corporate dynasty. Sarsgaard plays John Ashpool, with Callum Turner as Case and Briana Middleton as Molly.

Delaney's next is Being Heumann, a biopic set in 1977 where disability rights icon Judy Heumann leads a 28-day occupation of San Francisco's Federal Building, rallying for accessibility laws and equal rights. Mark Ruffalo plays Joseph Califano, Dylan O'Brien is Evan White, and Delaney appears as Congressman Miller.

Given the pace, I wouldn't bet against another Road House 2 casting update landing tomorrow. See you then.