Producer Will Packer confirms that Girls Trip 2 is officially happening with the original cast all returning for a sequel to the hit comedy. The 2017 film centered on lifestyle guru Ryan Pierce as she desires to reunite with her college friends and embarks on a trip to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, where she will be a keynote speaker. Girls Trip featured an ensemble roster led by Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish and Jada Pinkett Smith, with Larenz Tate, Mike Colter, Kate Walsh and Deborah Ayorinde also appearing in the film.
Hailing from director Malcolm D. Lee on a script from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and Survivor's Remorse's Tracy Oliver, Girls Trip proved to be a smash hit upon its release. The film scored rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, with much of the praise directed towards its cast, namely Haddish in her breakthrough role, and brought in over $140 million worldwide against its $28 million budget, becoming the first comedy of 2017 to do so and the first film from an African-American female screenwriter to cross the $100 million mark. Talks of a Girls Trip 2 have languished in the years since, though fans of the first film have something to look forward to in the near future.
During his appearance on Good Morning America, producer Will Packer broke the news that Girls Trip 2 is officially happening. Packer further confirmed the original cast are all returning for the film and that he is already in discussions with a director for the sequel, though didn't state who said director was. See what Packer shared below:
“Can’t we all use a post-pandemic trip, my friend? I think that the time is actually right, and this is something that I will tell you and break right now at GMA: the Girls Trip 2 sequel, we are underway. We are absolutely in the stages, the ladies are in, I just talked to the director. We are underway with ‘Girls Trip 2,’ and now it’s just about what kind of trip do we take, right? Post-pandemic with all our favorite crazy ladies, what do we do with them? That’s what [we’ve] got to figure out.”
Girls Trip 2 has been a rollercoaster since the film hit theaters in 2017, with Pinkett-Smith and Latifah having confirmed in the past that the sequel was moving forward though Haddish would state in 2019 that talks had stalled for the project. Packer's announcement does, however, come nearly two years after Haddish offered a more promidate on the film in which Oliver had penned a script treatment for the project and was subsequently working on the script. Given the success of the first film, and the fun the cast seemed to have working with one another, it comes as no surprise that a Girls Trip 2 is finally getting off the ground in some capacity.
It is interesting to note that Packer states he has met with a director for Girls Trip 2 but didn't state who the director would be for the sequel. Given Packer has a working relationship with original director Malcolm D. Lee, having also partnered for the Tiffany Haddish-starring comedy Night School, and Packer having Tim Story direct both installments in Ride Along and Think Like a Man franchises, it seems likely the producer would want Lee back at the helm for the sequel. With the cast and producer now ready to move forward on the project, audiences should look forward to hearing further developments on Girls Trip 2 in the near future.
Source: Good Morning America
