A Simple Favor 2 director Paul Feig has shut down rumours that Blake Lively had caused the forthcoming sequel to be shelved.
On Friday (January 10), an X/Twitter user had alleged – based on “insider accounts” – that the Gossip Girl actress refused to promote the sequel to the 2018 crime thriller, citing “her messy legal battle with Justin Baldoni and growing tensions with Anna Kendrick”.
Baldoni and Lively starred in romantic drama It Ends With Us, and Lively recently launched a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by him on the set of the film, as well as claiming he conducted a smear campaign against her.
Denying the accusations, Baldoni has also launched a lawsuit against The New York Times, who initially reported the case, and has pledged to counter-sue his former co-star. His lawyer Bryan Freedman told CBS News that the newspaper “aided and abetted” a “smear campaign designed to revitalise Lively’s… floundering public image”.
Although the legal battle is indeed ongoing, director Feig addressed claims that Lively’s personal life had interfered with the release of the sequel, writing: “This is total BS. Sorry.”
“The movie is finished and coming out soon,” he added. “Don’t believe anything you read on social media these days.”
This is total BS. Sorry. The movie is finished and coming out soon. Don’t believe anything you read on social media these days. https://t.co/UDkWZzbIvp
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) January 11, 2025
When the same user responded, asking the Bridesmaids director why Amazon hadn’t set a release date “for a film that wrapped in April 2024”, and why there were “no promo plans” yet, Feig once again set the record straight.
“My friend, it’s called post production, which generally takes over half a year at least when you factor in editing, scoring, special effects, sound mixing, close captioning and all the technical quality control that has to be done,” he wrote. “Our post schedule always had us finishing everything by mid-January.”
Per Deadline, Amazon Studios and Lionsgate previously announced the sequel in 2022, with original cast members Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho and Kelly McCormack also returning.
In the sequel, Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) jet to Italy for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich businessman, with murder and betrayal expected along the way.
