Get ready to water your love ferns, because a sequel for How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days is in the works.
Twenty-three years after Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey introduced us to the small potted prop in the 2003 film, fans will get a new chapter of the classic rom-com.
According to Variety, a sequel is in the “early stages of development” but the cast and several creative roles yet to be locked down.
Although original star Hudson has reportedly signed on as a producer to help develop the sequel, it’s not known if she will reprise her role as magazine writer Andie Anderson.
Filmmakers further hope that her co-star McConaughey, who played advertising executive Benjamin Barry, will also be back on board – Variety reports that his involvement will depend on the writers the studio brings on board.
It’s giving deja vu because the first time around Hudson also had to rally to get McConaughey’s contract over the line. Before filming began in the OG movie, Hudson said she had to fight for the Oscar winner to be cast in the role opposite her.
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“We just kept hitting our heads against the wall, and the studio and I weren’t agreeing,” she revealed in a Life In Pictures talk at the BAFTAs in 2022
“[Matthew and I] had an energy together, I wanted to play with him,” she continued. “It felt kinetic. We both have a competitive spirit, we’re both super athletic. We like to push each other and I just love Matthew’s commitment to everything; he’s razor-focused. What you think he is, is.”
She got her way, McConaughey won fans over as Ben, and the film went on to be a global success.
“How To Lose A Guy feels like a classic at this point,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in April. “New generations keep finding it. It’s really nice to be in a movie that’s like that.”
Back in 2023, when the co-stars reunited for an Instagram live chat marking the 20th anniversary of How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Hudson credited the film’s success to her on-screen chemistry with McConaughey.
“[With] respect to our now-partners, we do kiss nicely,” she said at the time. “It was always a very nice kiss.”
“I think maybe it has something to do with our freedom. I feel like we’re both very free,” Hudson told McConaughey, who agreed.
She added: “We don’t constrict ourselves to an idea of what we’re ‘supposed’ to be doing. There’s something spontaneous about the way we were able to work together.”
The original film followed magazine writer Andie (Hudson), who is assigned to write an article about how to drive a man away in 10 days. When she crosses paths with Ben (McConaughey), her colleagues select him as the man she must deliberately repel for research purposes.
So Andie activates clingy girlfriend mode, hijacks his boys’ night, stages dramatic fights and even stocks his bathroom with feminine hygiene products in a matter of days.
Only problem is, her efforts to self-sabotage are pointless as Ben has a hidden agenda of his own. To win a lucrative diamond account, he makes a bet with his boss that he can make any woman fall in love with him in 10 days.
He puts on the moves, buying Andie 100 white flowers, cooking her an intimate dinner, and even introducing her to his family.
Through the manipulation and mind games emerged a genuine rom-com that has remained a fan favourite for more than two decades, grossing $US177 million ($247 million) worldwide against a $US50 million ($70 million) budget.
Although McConaughey hasn’t signed on the dotted line just yet for this sequel, he still looks back fondly on the film, especially since it earns him the most residuals of any of his movies “by far”.
“How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days is the gift that keeps on giving,” he told host Josh Horowitz on the August 13 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I think it’s probably my favourite rom-com I’ve done. A lot of people love that rom-com.”
“It still pays the best mailbox money of any film I’ve ever done,” he added. “Every March, I’d get a big check because Valentine’s Day.”