Allison Janney, the Oscar- and Emmy-award winning actress best known for her role as CJ Cregg on The West Wing, is reportedly in talks to appear in A Simple Favor 2. Hailing from Amazon MGM Studios, the sequel will follow Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) to the island of Capri, Italy, where Emily plans to marry a rich Italian businessman. According to an unofficial synopsis at The InSneider, where Janney’s casting is being reported, “Unfortunately for her, it seems there’s a murderer on the guest list.”
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The movie will bring back A Simple Favor‘s Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, as well Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho, and Kelly McCormack. New cast members include Elena Sofia Ricci, Elizabeth Perkins, Michele Morrone, Alex Newell, Aparna Nancherla, Taylor Ortega, and Lorenzo De Moor. Paul Feig is set to direct the film.
The movie will be co-produced by Lionsgate, who also just announced they’re sending War Machine, a new movie starring Reacher‘s Alan Ritchson, to Netflix. That movie will be directed by The Hitman’s Bodyguard director Patrick Hughes.
Janney won her Oscar for a supporting role in I, Tonya, and has a career total of seven Emmys: four for The West Wing, two for Mom, and one for Masters of Sex. Her role in 10 Things I Hate About You is also essential viewing for any ’90s kid.
A Simple Favor 2 will reportedly be released on Prime Video — more or less the norm for MGM projects now if they aren’t absolutely massive. The original movie made $97 million against a reported budget of about $20 million in 2018.
A Simple Favor 2 has a script by Jessica Sharzer, with a rewrite pass by Laeta Kalogridis, Steve Yockey, and Feig. Feig is set to produce the film under his Feigco banner, with Laura Fischer also on board to produce. Sharzer also wrote the first film (based on characters created by Darcy Bell), and will be an executive producer on A Simple Favor 2.
In addition to acting in the sequel, Lively and Kendrick are both working on their directorial debuts right now. Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour will arrive on Netflix later this year, and Lively is developing a movie based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel Seconds.
Expect an official announcement that Janney will join A Simple Favor 2 soon.
