Paul Feig's ‘A Simple Favor 2' Tests Through the Roof, and Might Get Theatrical Release

Paul Feig is coming off the critical drubbing of his straight-to-streaming comedy, “Jackpot!” However, his next film might be going to theaters, and that’s the sequel to “A Simple Favor” which was a midsized hit at the 2018 box office and has amassed a loyal cult following on streaming since its release. Production recently wrapped on that film, and it’s set for a release sometime next year.

Produced by Amazon/MGM, “A Simple Favor 2,” starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, was greenlit as a streaming original; it was shot in March and wrapped production in early summer. The film recently screened and, according to Feig, test scores were so high that there’s now a decent chance the sequel might hit theaters (via Deadline):

“I can’t speak for Amazon, but we did our first (test screening). I’m seven weeks into my director’s cut — but I always try to do a test screening … and we went through the roof,” he noted. “We scored really high.”

Feig added, “So, they’re going to see it at the end of this month. I’m literally in the editing room right now, fine tuning.”

There is currently no release date for ‘A Simple Favor 2,’ but chances are that it will be released in 2025. The first one, released in 2018, had a small budget of $20M and grossed close to $100M worldwide, and that’s before it ended up getting a much larger audience on streaming.

I don’t mind Feig’s brand of comedy, he’s the filmmaker behind “Bridesmaids,” “The Heat” “A Simple Favor” and “Spy,” but he really hasn’t had a hit in almost 10 years and his last three films ('“Jackpot!,” “Last Christmas,” “The School of Good and Evil”) were critically panned.

We should definitely not forget that Feig is also responsible for the all-female “Ghostbusters” from 2016 — remember that one? It’s a film could have easily destroyed anybody else’s career, but Feig is hanging in there, and ‘A Simple Favor 2’ might be the comeback vehicle that he needs.