When a sequel to Paul Feig’s “A Simple Favor” was officially greenlit earlier this year with Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick returning, it was revealed that, instead of a theatrical release, the movie would go straight to streaming. And, according to the director, that decision was made simply because Amazon MGM proved they both wanted it and would support it.
The first film, distributed by Lionsgate in 2018, centered on Mommy Vlogger Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) who gets caught up in a mystery when her new best friend Emily Nelson (Lively) suddenly goes missing after asking Stephanie to pick up her son. What follows is a story of murder, attempted murder, even faking a death, and with the added draw of “Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding, fans loved it enough to want a sequel.
Speaking to TheWrap ahead of his next comedy “Jackpot!” — also headed to Prime Video, it premieres on Aug. 15 — Feig explained that, while there were other possibilities for where that sequel would land, Prime Video simply ended up being the best fit.
“You go where they want to make it, you know? And Amazon really wanted this,” Feig said. “It was great. We had a few other suitors for it, but they just really got it, and they were willing to put the money in that we needed to do it, and do it the way we wanted to do it.”
He continued, “You know, it’s international now, it takes place in Italy, and I wanted to shoot in Italy, and not, you know, make Prague look like Italy. No slam against Prague! So they’ve been just amazing partners on this. I’ve been absolutely so happy.”
Indeed, “A Simple Favor 2” brings Stephanie and Emily back together on the island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s wedding to a rich Italian businessman. Per the synopsis, “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.”
Feig noted that said sequel is “deep” in post-production, and so far is earning positive feedback.
“I actually did a test screening of it last week, and it went through the roof. So, feeling very good,” he said. “Now I’m just fine-tuning. I’m only six weeks into my director’s cut, but it’s a movie I’ve seen so clearly since we had so much time to prep for it. And we threw out one script during the writers strike and rewrote the whole thing. So I’m really excited about it. And the audience response was just so, so exciting.”
In addition to Kendrick and Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho, and Kelly McCormack will also return in their roles from the first feature.
