With ‘Another Simple Favor,’ Director Paul Feig Set Out to Make His Own ‘The Godfather Part II’: ‘Either Make Something Better or Disappoint Everybody’
Paul Feig came to Austin, Texas to premiere “Another Simple Favor,” the sequel to 2018’s “A Simple Favor,” at SXSW on Friday, March 7, along with cast members Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick, Henry Golding, Michele Morrone, Andrew Rannells, and Alex Newell. The film picks up directly where the first left off and takes viewers to Capri, Italy.
The original movie made just under $100 million at the box office, nearly five times its budget. Rather than a theatrical release, the sequel is debuting on Prime Video on May 1. As for the difference in releasing the two films, Feig was on board from the get-go. “It was always sold as a streaming movie. So that was not something that came out of nowhere,” he told IndieWire.
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“We knew going in,” Feig continued. “Look, as a filmmaker, do you like to have your movie on the big screen? Yes. That’s why I love coming to this festival, and we’re doing a lot of word of mouth screenings, so it’s exciting, but there’s so many fans of this film. People are going to get together in their houses and watch it as a group, that’s my favorite thing.”
From early conversations with stars Lively and Kendrick, though there was some reworking of the script involved between the first version and the final, Feig said it was easy to get the whole gang back together. “We were all cautious going in, because everybody really likes the first movie, so all we can do is either make something better or disappoint everybody. I always say, if you’re going to make a sequel, make ‘Godfather 2.'”
“We actually threw out the first version of the script that we came up with; I don’t think it’s what people wanted. Then we rewrote about 70 percent of it and came up with this and we’re thrilled. Everybody [got] on board once we got it right.” As for whether he’d return to make a follow-up to another one of his films, Feig said, “Not sure. I try to avoid it, but you know, never say never.”
The “Bridemaids” director recently wrapped his adaption of Freida McFadden’s novel “The Housemaid,” starring Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Michelle Morrone, and Brandon Sklenar. In the thriller, Sweeney will play Millie, a struggling young woman who is relieved to get a fresh start as a housemaid to upscale, wealthy couple Nina (Seyfried) and Andrew. Millie soon learns that the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own.
“Sydney is a dream, an absolute dream,” Feig teased of the project. “This is not Hollywood talk. This is me as a human being, talking about another human being. She is so wonderful to work with. She’s so savvy and just a pleasure, an absolute pleasure. Amanda Seyfried is amazing and Brendan Sklenar. I was just in heaven working with this cast. It was freezing cold when we were shooting, but it was still heaven.”
The official synopsis for “Another Simple Favor” reads: “Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) reunite on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman. 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.”
Watch the trailer here.
“Another Simple Favor” streams on Prime Video from Amazon MGM Studios on May 1.
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