Given the success of Mad Max: Fury Road (and the clear influence the early movies of that franchise had on Waterworld), it certainly wouldn't be out of the question for a sequel to come about nearly 30 years after the original. Waterworld explores a rich world with a lot of potential avenues to develop, but the driving force, Kevin Costner himself, just doesn't seem interested in treading those waters again.
Overall, the actor has been adamant about not doing sequels. In fact, over the course of his 40-year career, the only sequels he's ever done have been glorified cameos as Pa Kent in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League. When it comes to his most famous films, including Dances With Wolves and Bill Durham, he believes those are best as one-and-done projects.
In an interview with Spin1038, he discusses this career decision. "What happens is that I really respect the movies I did and if the sequel is not as good I won't do it... I need to see the script, because if someone [likes] The Bodyguard and I make The Bodyguard 2 or Tin Cup 2 or Bull Durham 2 or Dances With Wolves 2 and 3, and they're not as good, then it's going to bother me," he said. Back in 2015, when he did an interview with MTV, he was asked specifically about reviving Waterworld. "I don't think they have to redo it," he said. "I think they could just release it the way it is if that was interesting."
With something of a bad rap and zero interest from the original star, a sequel to Waterworld seems dead in the water. Fortunately, there are plenty of other films like it in case you want to watch something on the same wavelength.
