In 2018, Pitch Perfect’s Anna Kendrick and Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively teamed up for A Simple Favor, adapted from the same-named novel by Darcey Bell. The dark comedy thriller was met with a lot of critical praise (CinemaBlend gave the movie 4 out of 5 stars) and performed decently at the box office, but at the time, it seemed like a one-and-done affair, especially given the ending. Not so, as it’s been announced that Kendrick and Lively are reuniting for A Simple Favor 2.
Just like with the first movie, Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively will be directed by Bridesmaids’ Paul Feig, and screenwriter Jessica Sharzer and producer Laura Fischer are returning too (the former will also executive produce). Deadline reports that this time around, Lionsgate, the studio behind A Simple Favor, is partnering with Amazon Studios to bring A Simple Favor 2 to the masses. It’s unclear if this partnership means A Simple Favor 2 will go straight to streaming or have a theatrical run beforehand, but these studios coming together has paved the way for another cinematic story starring Kendrick’s Stephanie Smothers and Blake Lively’s Emily Nelson.
A Simple Favor followed Stephanie, a widowed single mother and blogger, becoming friends with Emily, A PR director for a fashion company whose son was in the same class as Stephanie’s son. The women grow close, but tragedy strikes when Emily seemingly dies. However, Stephanie soon learns that not only is Emily still alive, but there’s more to her past than she’s let on. I won’t delve into specific spoilers for those who haven’t seen A Simple Favor (it can be streamed on Tube at the time of this writing), but let’s just say the story ends in a way where it didn’t look like Stephanie and Emily would cross paths again.
Well, surprise, A Simple Favor 2 is now traveling down the developmental pipeline, though no plot details have been revealed at this time. Since the original novel stood on its own, we’re heading into uncharted territory for this sequel. Still, between A Simple Favor’s 84% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes among professional critics, and pulling in over $97 million worldwide off a reported $20 million budget, it makes sense Lionsgate wants to dip back into this cinematic pool, and with Amazon Studios to help out for this second round.
Since A Simple Favor came out, Anna Kendrick has appeared in movies like The Day Shall Come, Noelle and Stowaway, as well as executive produced the popular HBO Max series Love Life, which she starred in during its first season and made a guest appearance during the following season. Blake Lively’s only movie since A Simple Favor has been The Rhythm Section, but in addition to returning for the sequel, she’s also set to make her feature directorial debut with Seconds, based on the same-named graphic novel by Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. As for Paul Feig, he’s delivering The School for Good and Evil to Netflix later this year, and since he’s had trouble getting Dark Army off the ground, I suspect A Simple Favor 2 will be the next feature on his to-do list.
CinemaBlend will pass along more notable details about A Simple Favor 2 as soon as they come in. Until then, look through the 2022 movie releases to figure out what cinematic entertainment you’ll carve out time for later this year.
