Seth Rogen has discussed why the sequel to his hit comedy Pineapple Express didn’t come to fruition.

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The 2008 action-comedy, which stars Rogen, James Franco, and Danny McBride, follows a process server and his marijuana dealer who wind up on the run from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after witnessing a murder.

Back in 2011, screenwriter Evan Goldberg hinted that a follow-up featuring a Superbad crossover could be on the cards.

“We toyed with that idea right after Pineapple came out,” he explained. “We thought that people would enjoy McLovin and [James] Franco together – but we’re never going to touch Superbad ever again, that’s a terrible idea. I’m even hesitant to make Pineapple 2, but I’m loosening up to it as of the last few weeks.”

Speaking in a new interview, Rogen has revealed why he thinks the sequel never happened, putting some of it down to budgetary restrictions.

“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,” he told Howard Stern. “It was something we were very open to several years ago, but Sony was not that interested in it.”

He added: “I think we probably wanted too much money. Studios, they don’t like giving away money. Weird thing.”

In 2014, Sony Pictures was hacked and an email from producer Judd Apatow showed the team’s interest in a second film.

“I am so glad we are so close to getting Pineapple Express 2 figured out,” Apatow’s email read. “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.

“We learned so much on how to make these comedy sequels when we did Anchorman 2. And we rocked that marketing campaign. Foreign is doing awesome too. I am sure PE2 will do even better! Marijuana is so popular now! It’s on every corner!”

The Daily Beast reported that Apatow sought a $50 million budget, but Sony set a cap at $45 million and a middle ground was never met.

Meanwhile, Seth Rogen has kept fans entertained during the coronavirus outbreak by watching Cats for the first time while “pretty stoned.”

The Canadian comedy star updated fans on Twitter as he experienced his first viewing of the critically derided Andrew Lloyd-Webber adaptation, which recently swept the board at the Razzies.

“I’m pretty stoned and watching Cats,” Rogen tweeted. “I’ve never seen the Broadway show. It is truly trippy. Am I supposed to know what a Jellicle is? They’ve said it 200,000 times but I don’t know what’s happening haha.”

He later revealed that he was getting through lockdown by smoking a “truly ungodly” amount of weed.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! from his home, Rogen joked that he was “made” for the situation and that smoking marijuana is helping him through.