The two will reunite for a highly-anticipated follow-up to the 2018 murder-mystery film.
Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are reuniting for a sequel to their 2018 murder-mystery hit, A Simple Favor. Lionsgate and Amazon Studios announced the news on Wednesday, sharing that Paul Feig and Jessica Sharzer will also return to direct and write the screenplay, respectively.
Deadline was the first to report the news.
Based on the 2017 novel A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell, the first film followed Lively and Kendrick as two mothers who meet at their kids’ elementary school. Lively's character, Emily, is a suit-wearing, martini-drinking powerhouse while Kendrick's character, Stephanie, is a shy, single mother working on her parenting blog.
When Emily goes suddenly missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate the disappearance and deep-dive into her new friend's past. The dark comedy is full of mysterious clues, glamorous fashion and sharp wit.
With the critical success of the first film, raking in $97 million at the worldwide box office, a sequel was anticipated. However, with Bell's novel being a stand-alone work, the sequel will be uncharted territory.
We caught up with Kendrick at the December 2018 premiere in New York City and asked about her on-screen chemistry with Lively ... and off-screen competition with her co-star's husband, Ryan Reynolds.
“You know what it is? Ryan’s an attractive, famous, successful man and you need to keep them on their toes. He’s got a great lady and I just need to let him know that Blake’s got options, you know what I'm saying,” The Pitch Perfect alum joked.
Similarly, Lively gushed about the chance to work with Kendrick, saying, “I've been a fan of hers for a long time, so there's immediate chemistry -- she just didn't know about it, so it's just been a real slow, burn until I finally convinced her to be in a movie with [me.]”
In addition to the Simple Favor sequel, Lively is set to make her feature-length directorial debut with Seconds, an adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novel.
As for Kendrick, she recently starred in the Netflix film Stowaway.
There is no set release date for the Simple Favor sequel, but fans are already dusting off their pantsuits and shaking up martinis in anticipation.
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