With Red Dead Redemption 2's launch date growing further away, Rockstar Games fans have been anxious for information about the studio's next project. One of the most prominent focuses of speculation has been a potential sequel to Bully. This speculation was fanned by a wave of rumors in 2019, which included leaked "screenshots" from the game. Little has been said about a potential Bully 2 release since, and now the voice actor for the original Bully's protagonist is further quashing speculation.
A recently resurfaced episode of the Awfully Irish podcast featured an interview with Gerry Rosenthal, who voiced Jimmy Hopkins. As of July 2020, Rosenthal says that he hasn't been contacted by Rockstar regarding the possibility of doing voicework for Bully 2. Rosenthal also rejects the counter that he might be under NDA. As far a Rosenthal knows, there is no Bully 2 in development.
While Rosenthal's comments do seem dissuasive, they're not all-encompassing. There is the possibility that Rockstar is developing Bully 2 without involving either the Jimmy Hopkins character or Rosenthal as a voice actor. This wouldn't even be surprising. Rockstar's well-known for leaving its protagonists behind with each new iteration of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Bully 2 could follow that style of sequel, rather than follow the continuity of Red Dead Redemption.
For the time being, however, it does seem like the possibility of a Bully sequel is growing thin. While it's true that there were rumors about a sequel in 2019, there have been no substantial complementary rumors in 2020. The discourse surrounding Bully 2 has largely been continued speculation by the Rockstar and Bully fan communities. And while the rumors may seem fruitless for now, those communities are likely to persist.
In fact, even the most reliable evidence of a Bully sequel being in development, supposed leaked screenshots, has been debunked since it dropped in 2019. A Brazilian artist named Felipe Borges confirmed that they'd faked the Bully 2 screenshots, which went viral within the Bully fandom. Further, other rumors regarding a completed script for Bully 2 at Rockstar were attributed to a canceled project started as far back as 2008. The rumors have not stood the test of time.
Rockstar Games may still make a Bully sequel yet. Bully remains an interesting concept and Rockstar has shown that it's willing to revisit its past franchises, like with Red Dead Redemption 2. There's just no definitive evidence that Rockstar is developing such a sequel right now. As for evidence that Grand Theft Auto 6 is in development at Rockstar, that's another story entirely.
Source: ComicBook.com