Romcoms began their inevitable (don’t fight it) comeback in 2018, thanks to the tireless efforts of Netflix, which brought subscribers the more than serviceable Set It Up and the objectively bad Kissing Booth to massive numbers. How huge? No one really knows beyond Netflix, which is notorious for keeping numbers close to its sleeve, but the streaming service did reveal that To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before quickly became one of its most viewed original films of all time. And now (and perhaps owing in large part to the overnight popularity of heartthrob Noah Centineo), the rumored sequel is officially in the works for Netflix as part of its new deal with Paramount as the producer.
Well, maybe the film’s appeal also has to do with the film being a new twist on the romcom. Lana Condor exuded a strong sense of self as Lara Jean Covey while comically dealing with the film’s romantic fallout, and she never needed any of the boys that she had ever crushed on to feel whole. Whatever the case, Hollywood Reporter has revealed that a Covey-centered sequel will be “one of the first” films in this new deal (one of several recent studio friendships that Netflix has garnered) that appears to be a mutual backscratching:
Paramount has supplied its library titles to Netflix for years and has recently relied on the streaming company to bail the studio out of some expensive projects — as when Netflix bought Martin Scorsese’s 2019 crime film The Irishman for $105 million while it was still in production and its budget was ballooning, then committed another $20 million to the project.
Source material happens to be in plentiful supply due to author Jenny Han already publishing a sequel to the original film’s subject matter. The second book in the series is titled, P.S. I Still Love You, not to be confused with that silly Gerard Butler romcom of the aughts, P.S. I Love You. Lara Condor recently discussed the possibility of a sequel while admitting to ET Online that schedules will soon be impossible for both herself and Centineo, who are both enjoying increased demand in both the TV and movie realms these days, so Netflix and Paramount had better act fast, lest a sequel be postponed for years.
There’s no telling whether a second movie can actually recapture the lightning in the bottle of the first film, but maybe we’ll finally find out who leaked that hot tub video, right? That’s what I want in a sequel.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
