The opening night movie at the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival will be the world premiere of Paul Feig’s “Another Simple Favor,” starring Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. The festival runs from March 7-14 in Austin, Texas.
Although Lively has most recently been the subject of intense scrutiny for for her complicated legal entanglement with Justin Baldoni, the co-star and director of last year’s hit “It Ends With Us,” this project returns her to one of her signature roles.
“Another Simple Favor” is the sequel to the 2018 comedic thriller “A Simple Favor,” in which Kendrick stars as Stephanie Smothers, a single mother who strikes up a friendship with Emily Nelson (Lively), a glamorous woman with a mysterious past. In the new film, the duo head to the isle of Capri, where Lively’s character is about to marry a wealthy Italian businessman.
Feig previously premiered his films “Bridesmaids” and “Spy” at SXSW and in a statement said, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back at my favorite festival in the world. … I cannot begin to say how honored I am to have our film opening it all. I’ve avoided making sequels to any of my films but these characters were just too much fun not to revisit.”
Blake Lively in the 2018 movie “A Simple Favor.”
(Lionsgate)
Based on characters created by Darcey Bell, the new film’s screenplay was written by Jessica Sharzer (who wrote the original) and Laeta Kalogridis. The movie is produced by Feig and Laura Fischer. Co-stars include Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Elizabeth Perkins, Michele Morrone, Alex Newell, Henry Golding and Allison Janney.
A spokeperson for the festival could not confirm whether Lively was scheduled to be in attendance at the event, but part of Feig’s statement read, “To be able to have Anna, Blake, Henry, Andrew, Michele, Elizabeth, Alex and myself watch our film with the great SXSW audience is a bucket list event that I’ll be able to check off March 7th.”
As previously announced, the festival’s opening night TV selection will be the world premiere of “The Studio,” a new series from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Other films already announced for the festival include “The Accountant 2,” starring Ben Affleck; “The Death of a Unicorn,” starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega; and “Holland,” starring Nicole Kidman.