‘A Simple Favor’ Director Explains Why Ryan Reynolds’ Gin Won’t Appear in Sequel
The sequel to A Simple Favor will not include a return appearance for Ryan Reynolds’ gin brand.
Paul Feig, who directed Another Simple Favor and the 2018 original, told Entertainment Weekly that Aviaton gin will not be seen in the new movie after memorably appearing in the first film. Instead, the Simple Favor sequel, hitting Prime Video on May 1, will include Feig’s own spirit brand, Artingstall’s Brilliant London Dry Gin, which he launched in 2020. Another Simple Favor features the return of stars Blake Lively — who is married to Reynolds — and Anna Kendrick.
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“There’s no more Aviation,” Feig said. “This movie is all Artingstall’s, all the time. I’m very proud of my brand. And actually, our bottle is so beautiful that it fits in. It doesn’t feel like it doesn’t belong.”
Feig added, “There’s never a shortage of martinis in any of my movies.”
During a scene in A Simple Favor, Emily (Lively) and Stephanie (Kendrick) bond as the former fixes martinis using Aviation gin. The filmmaker explained to Cosmopolitan in 2018 that he was trying to clear a different gin brand for the first film when Lively suggested that he use Aviation, the company that Reynolds purchased in 2016. “I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t like the look of it on the screen, but I really thought the bottle looked fantastic,” Feig said back then.
Reynolds sold Aviation for $610 million to spirits giant Diageo in 2020 and retained an ownership stake in the company.
(The trailer for Another Simple Favor, meanwhile, dropped on Wednesday.)
Lively’s most recent film was Sony’s It Ends With Us, which hit theaters in August and surpassed $350 million at the global box office. The project has been at the center of controversy amid the ongoing legal battle between Lively and director and co-star Justin Baldoni.
Feig has recently supported Lively on social media, with the director defending her earlier this month after one Instagram user implied that the actress may have tried to have a disproportionate amount of input on A Simple Favor 2. “Blake has been nothing but supportive and a dream to work with,” Feig posted at the time. “She is the best and an amazing collaborator, and I’m her biggest fan.”
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