EXCLUSIVE: After the box office success and critical acclaim of the original, Lionsgate and Amazon Studios are reuniting the gang for a sequel to A simple favor. Sources told Deadline that the studios will partner on the sequel with stars Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively set to reprise their roles and Paul Feig will return to direct and produce with Laura Fischer. Jessica Sharzer is writing the script.
Feigco Entertainment is ready to produce. Sharzer will executive produce. The first film followed a single mother with a parenting vlog who befriends a reserved upper-class woman who has a son in the same elementary school. When Emily goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate.
The photo was a critical and commercial success for Lionsgate, earning over $97 million at the worldwide box office, achieving Certified Fresh status on Rotten Tomatoes, and attracting a solid base hoping for a following after an ending that left things. open to a possible sequel.
Meredith Wieck and Scott O’Brien are overseeing the Lionsgate project.
Lively is set to make her feature directorial debut with Seconds for Searchlight, an adaptation of the graphic novel by Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. Kendrick recently starred in the Netflix drama Stowaway and also starred in the first season of HBO Max Love life.
Feig recently directed the Netflix adaptation of the school of good and evil, starring Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington with the Feigco production.
Feig is represented by CAA and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Kendrick is represented by Range Media Partners and CAA. Lively is represented by WME, Management 360 and attorney David Weber. Sharzer is represented by UTA, Tobin Babst and Lindsay Perraud at Kaplan/Perrone, and attorney Jonathan Shikora at Lichter Grossman.