Wait, wait, wait — there's a sequel coming for The School of Rock?

White nodded. What's it about, we asked? "I can't tell you."

"It's a studio!" Hardwicke groaned.

"I literally just turned it in," White added. "It's a little too fresh off the boat for me to get into right now. And I don't even know if it's gonna be made."

White was a little more forthcoming about the process for returning to the original without succumbing to franchisee cynicism. "It was easier," he said. "Every time you're creating something, you're always thinking, 'What is the pleasurable part of this? What is the theme that's going to resonate with people?' I've had experiences where I loved what I did, and no one came. And times when I said, 'This could use some editing,' and everybody loves it. Our job is to pretend we know what everybody wants to see, but I don't know. So with this, you want to have a reason to go to the well again. You want it to not just be a reason so people can cash in. But at least now I have a better sense of what it was we created — what worked and what didn't. I can kind of reboot it."