Director Paul Feig is shutting down rumors that A Simple Favor 2 has been canceled. The movie is a sequel to the 2018 film starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. It tells the story of Stephanie (Kendrick), a single mother with a parenting vlog who befriends Emily (Lively), a secretive upper-class woman who has a kid at the same elementary school as Stephanie. When Emily goes missing, Stephanie takes up the investigation.
A Simple Favor had a budget of $20 million and grossed $53 million in the US & Canada. And it grossed $97 million worldwide. The movie was also well known for the interviews with Kendrick and Lively. People couldn’t help but zero in on how awkward the two were with each other. Some went as far as reading into their body language and the jokes they made with each other. The rumors of a feud followed them into the sequel, which finished filming in April 2024. Now a thread on X has speculated that the sequel has been shelved.
Paul Feig Enters the Chat
Feig himself responded to the thread by Eric B. with, “This is total BS. Sorry. The movie is finished and coming out soon. Don’t believe anything you read on social media these days.”
Eric B. responded asking why “Amazon hasn’t set a release date for a film that wrapped in April 2024.” Feig once again responded. He said that the movie was in post production and how it was always set to be released spring/summer of 2025.
And the Questions Continue…
That led to Eric B. posting again comparing how movies with more post-production editing had release dates that were sooner than A Simple Favor 2. His examples included Snow White, Captain America: Brave New World, How to Train Your Dragon, and Mission Impossible—The Final Reckoning. He also went on to claim that when it comes to Lively and her teams PR tactics, “Even I wasn’t spared, with Blake’s PR team targeting my reporting, using fake accounts and planted comments to dismiss my credible insights.”
What’s Happening with Blake Lively?
The news of A Simple Favor 2 being canceled comes at a time where it’s star Blake Lively is in an ongoing dispute with Justin Baldoni. Both starred in the adaptation of Colin Hoover’s book It Ends with Us. While both Lively and Baldoni starred in the film, Baldoni directed the film. During the initial release, Lively was dragged on social media for her promotional tour, which include a new hair line. And none of the cast spoke about about Baldoni, either good or bad.
In December, things took a surprising turn of events when The New York Times published a report about an alleged smear campaign against Lively by Baldoni and his associates. Baldoni was then dropped by his talent agency WME, co-host Liz Planks left The Man Enough Podcast, and Baldoni himself filed a lawsuit against The New York Times. Then on the same day that Baldoni filed him lawsuit, Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni.
Basically, it’s a mess. But A Simple Favor 2 is still a go.
