Sometimes deals, projects, and scripts are announced to the public and then suddenly there's no more news. Then a few years later, it's brought up again and the cycle repeats. This is what the film industry refers to as "Development Hell." In the case of "Inside Man," which was a commercial success for director Spike Lee, there's been rumors floating around for a few years now as to whether the film would get a sequel, and after a comment that the award winning director made at the premiere of Denzel Washington's latest, "The Equalizer," it appears the project may not be dead.

Late last year Spike Lee said in response to a question from Vulture about a script for a sequel, "I don't care if it is on IMDb. As far as I know, it's on the shelf. That's a question you have to ask the studios, the powers that be: Why hasn't that film had a sequel? They still make sequels."

One year later, and it seems the director is in the same place as he was then with the project, or is he? According to Variety, yesterday at the red carpet premiere for "The Equalizer," someone decided to check in with Lee about the project to which he replied, "Talk to Universal Studios!"

This appears to be a development past what was previously said about the "Inside Man 2" project. Now there seems to be a studio that is responsible which suggests that maybe Denzel Washington will continue to team up with his past directors, and join Spike Lee again for the follow up to "Inside Man." Perhaps with a successful box office run of "The Equalizer," Washington won't just get his own action franchise but will also reinvigorate the development process for "Inside Man 2."

Either way, as Spike Lee says, it will likely depend on the studios.