Julia Roberts Drops Bombshell My Best Friend’s Wedding 2 Update — Director May Already Be Lined Up

Julia Roberts finally said out loud what everyone has been wondering: yes, she has been talking to Sony about a sequel to 1997 rom-com staple My Best Friend's Wedding. Nothing signed, nothing locked, but the conversations are happening. And then things got a little inside baseball in the best way.

So... is My Best Friend's Wedding 2 actually real?

Roberts told Variety she has been approached about returning as Julianne Potter, the food critic who once made a pact to marry her best friend at 28 if both were still single. She stopped short of confirming she is in, which is Hollywood-speak for: it is moving, but do not start engraving invitations yet.

Here is where it gets interesting. While Roberts was answering that question, Luca Guadagnino — yes, the arthouse filmmaker behind Call Me by Your Name and the upcoming After the Hunt — jumped in to say he would gladly direct the sequel. Andrew Garfield, who co-stars with Roberts in After the Hunt, immediately endorsed the idea.

"I would helm it in a second," Guadagnino said. Garfield called that "fantastic."

What we know right now

• Roberts confirms she is in talks with Sony about My Best Friend's Wedding 2; no deal is finalized yet.
• During a Variety chat tied to After the Hunt, Luca Guadagnino volunteered that he wants to direct the sequel, and Andrew Garfield loved that idea.
• The sequel was reported to be in early development as of last July, with Past Lives director Celine Song attached to write the screenplay — a classy, intriguing pick for a 90s rom-com follow-up.
• Dermot Mulroney may be on the studio's wish list to return as Michael O'Neal; he was actually the first one to publicly talk about a sequel being in the works.
• For context: the original film was directed by P.J. Hogan and co-starred Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett, Philip Bosco, M. Emmet Walsh, Rachel Griffiths, Carrie Preston, and Susan Sullivan.
• It pulled three Golden Globe nominations: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for Roberts, and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for Everett.
• Nearly 30 years on, it is still sitting at a Certified Fresh 74% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is not nothing for a studio rom-com from the era of dial-up.

Reading between the lines

If you are keeping score: Roberts is game enough to talk, Guadagnino is unexpectedly eager to jump into the genre, and a writer with serious heat (Celine Song) is on script duty. That is a surprisingly prestige cocktail for a sequel to a beloved, slightly chaotic 1997 rom-com. If Sony can align those schedules and the contract gods cooperate, this might actually happen — and not in the way anyone would have predicted.