The Stone family will reunite for yet another Christmas without their beloved matriarch, Sybil Stone, played by the late Diane Keaton. Weeks after the 79-year-old actress passed away on October 11, director Thomas Bezucha opened up about revisiting his 2004 classic, revealing that he had been working on a follow-up to The Family Stone even before Keaton’s death last month.
“I’ve been haunted by the loss of Sybil for months now while I worked on it, and so this was a blow on a tender bruise already,” Bezucha said of the film, which is set to take place following Sybil’s death at the end of the original movie, during an interview with CNN. “Mentally, I’ve been spending time in that house where I’ve been missing her for a while already.”
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Even though Keaton’s death amplified Bezucha’s emotions surrounding the project, the director explained that the loss of his former colleague inspired him not only to “honor her even more” with a sequel to the beloved holiday dramedy, but to also “do a good job by the rest of the cast,” especially as reuniting the original Stones served as a key element of his decision to pursue the project.
The Family Stone Sequel Will Keep It All in the Family
Image via 20th Century Fox Film Corp.
“I’m not interested in the Brady family reunion without the original Jan,” he recalled telling his producer of his stipulation for penning another film about the New England brood. Despite his clear vision, details remain sparse about Bezucha’s sequel.
The filmmaker said he has yet to provide a final script for the film, nor has the project earned a formal greenlight from Disney, the parent company of The Family Stone’s original production company, 20th Century Fox. Early inquiries into a possible cast reunion, however, have apparently gone well.
According to the filmmaker, the flick’s principal cast, which featured Craig T. Nelson, Luke Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, and Elizabeth Reaser, all responded positively when approached about the prospect of returning for a sequel. However, none of the actors have officially signed on to the project.
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That said, Mulroney offered some insights into the film earlier this month, confirming that there had been talks of reuniting on another movie. “I had lunch with Tom Bezucha, the director of The Family Stone, the week before. So we spoke so much about Diane,” he told the New York Post, noting that the actress’s passing “broke us all up.”
“Even then, I didn’t know that she was going to go so soon,” he continued of his late co-star. “She’d just been on my lips a few days before. So it really impacted me. And I was in touch with him and a few other people around that film.”
The Family Stone is currently available to stream on Hulu.
Release Date
December 16, 2005
Runtime
104 Minutes
Director
Thomas Bezucha