Deadline already told you two years ago that A Simple Favor 2 was happening with Paul Feig back in the director’s chair and Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick starring, but today Amazon MGM Studios has made it official that the movie is a go and with the original cast members returning, read Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho, and Kelly McCormack.
Lionsgate is co-producing the sequel to the 2018 black comedy which minted $97M off a $20M budget. Cameras roll this spring. A streaming release on Prime Video in 240 countries is planned.
In part two, we see the return of Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) as they head to the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman. Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square.
The script, which is based on characters by Darcy Bell, was written by Jessica Sharzer, who wrote the first film, with revisions by Laeta Kalogridis and Feig.
Feigco Entertainment’s Feig and Laura Fischer are producing A Simple Favor 2, with Sharzer executive producing.
Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony, SAG, BAFTA, Emmy and Independent Spirit nominated Kendrick is making her directorial debut with the Netflix feature film Woman of the Hour, debuting this fall. She also produced and stars in the film.
Next up for Lively is the film adaption of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel It Ends With Us from Sony. She’s making her feature film directorial debut for Searchlight with the adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel Seconds, written and produced by Edgar Wright alongside Marc Platt.
Ghostbusters and Bridesmaids comedy filmmaker Feig just saw his latest movie, The School for Good and Evil, rank No. 1 on Netflix in 88 countries upon debut. Up next, he directed and produced the action-comedy film Grand Death Lotto starring John Cena, Awkwafina and Simu Liu for Amazon MGM Studios.
Crazy Rich Asian breakout star Golding is currently in production on the second season of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers opposite Nicole Kidman.
Grammy winning and 2x Tony Award nominated Rannells can recently be seen in the Hulu limited series Welcome to Chippendales. Additionally, he starred in the Showtime series Black Monday opposite Don Cheadle and Regina Hall which earned him a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Satine most recently appeared in the Tony-winning Broadway production of Leopoldstadt. Additional credits include Amazon MGM’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hunters, The Watcher, Chicago Med, and Stella’s Last Weekend.
Ho is best known for his role in Chapelwaite opposite Adrien Brody as Tane Boone and in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as The First Servant. Ho has appeared in several dramatic and comedic roles including shows The Handmaid’s Tale, A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting, Overlord and the Underwood’s, The Expanse,and Kung Fu.
McCormack is an award-winning actor, filmmaker, and musician best known for playing the Peaches’ shortstop in A League of Their Own for Amazon MGM Studios and for her role in the feature film Sugar Daddy. Additional credits include Paramount’s George & Tammy and Julio Torres’ Problemista.
Sharzer made her feature debut with Speak which she co-wrote and directed. The film, starring Kristen Stewart premiered at Sundance in 2004. Sharzer went on to write the feature film Nerve starring Emma Roberts and followed it up with Feig’s A Simple Favor. In television, she was a co-EP on the FX series American Horror Story and Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers.