In an interview with Howard Stern, Seth Rogan revealed why, despite hints and rumors, Pineapple Express never got a sequel. According to Rogan, at least some of the blame rests with Sony refusing to budget the project.
“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,” Rogan said. “It was something we were very open to several years ago, but Sony was not that interested in it. I think we probably wanted too much money. Studios, they don’t like giving away money. Weird thing.”
The 2014 big Sony hack revealed an email from producer Judd Apatow to the studio, in which he expresses excitement about making a sequel. “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 email said.
As was later revealed, the production asked Sony for a budget of $50 million but the studio agreed only to a $45 million budget. The parties never reached an agreement and the project never took off.
