Writer/director Paul Feig has revealed he threw out the script for A Simple Favor 2 and started over.

The original 2018 film starred Anna Kendrick as Stephanie, who uncovers her friend Emily’s web of lies following her disappearance. The upcoming sequel follows Blake Lively’s Emily as she gets married to a rich Italian businessman in Capri.

Feig revealed to Variety that he overhauled the sequel’s original script because he didn’t think it gave the fans what they wanted.

“We threw out the original draft that was going to get made,” he said. “We were like, ‘As much as we like what we have here, we don’t think this is what the people who really loved the first movie are going to 100 per cent want.’ We’ve been working on it for two and half years now, almost three, developing it and it getting it right.”

The Heat filmmaker noted that he has always turned down sequels because of the pressure of delivering a worthy follow-up.

“It’s a lot because also if you look at my work, I’ve never done a sequel before just for that very reason,” Feig continued. “I’ve always tried to stay away from it but this one I just loved these characters and always felt we can revisit them.”

A Simple Favor is experiencing a new lease of life on streaming, with it being currently the No. 1 most-watched movie on Netflix. Feig revealed to the outlet that he learned about its top spot days before wrapping filming on the sequel.

“I sent it to all my main cast saying, ‘Hey, we’re doing the right thing here,'” Feig shared. “I’m thrilled. It makes me so happy because this really is one of my favourite movies.”

A Simple Favor 2 will be released on Prime Video in 2025.

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