Seventeen years after director Karyn Kusama’s Jennifer’s Body was unleashed in theaters, a sequel is on the way. And we’ve got an exclusive update straight from the film’s writer.
Jennifer’s Body screenwriter Diablo Cody is back to write Jennifer’s Body 2, and Cody stopped by Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew podcast to provide us with a fresh update!
For starters, Diablo Cody reveals that the process of writing Jennifer’s Body 2 is a unique one. And she teases that the upcoming sequel is directly inspired by the fan response to the first movie, which initially wasn’t well received but ultimately attained cult classic status.
Yes, Diablo Cody is currently writing the Jennifer’s Body sequel!
“You know what? It actually is not a typical sequel process, where you’re going ‘here’s what we’re going to protect from the first movie.’ It’s more like all the ways in which I was restrained on the first movie, I’m now unleashed,” Diablo Cody teases. “So it actually is less a feeling of being cautious and more of a feeling of being careless in the best way.”
Cody continues, “Obviously Jennifer’s Body is very important to me. I love it but I actually feel like the culture has caught up with what we were trying to do with that movie. Now it’s like I can really stretch my legs. I really loved writing this script. There was not a moment of it that felt like work, which is unusual for me these days.”
What can you expect from Jennifer’s Body 2?
“Thematically, the whole movie is a response to that rediscovery [of the first film],” Cody previews. “Truly, it was an unusual situation where the fans were able to inspire me back. The whole movie is infused with that love and appreciation and discovery. Every movie is about something, other than what it’s about, but this one is not just about Jennifer and Needy, it’s about me. It was really, really cathartic to write. I felt a lot of gratitude in the writing process, because it wouldn’t be happening if people hadn’t shown so much love for the first movie.”
Diablo Cody continues in her chat with the Boo Crew, “I cannot even think of a scenario, and we’ve tried, where a movie flopped critically and commercially and then got a sequel.”
Cody was joined by Forbidden Fruits co-producer Mason Novick for the chat – Cody produced that film – and he’s one of the few who has read the Jennifer’s Body 2 script.
“The script is so good and so funny, and it just hits on so many different levels,” Novick teases. “It honors the first movie; it also sort of makes fun of the first movie. It makes fun of the experience of it. It deals with a lot of things that feel current today that you couldn’t quite talk about in the first one. I love it. I’ve read it a few times.”
He adds, “I love it so much and I’m really excited to go make it.”
Will Amanda Seyfried and Megan Fox return for Jennifer’s Body 2?
At this time, no actors are officially attached to Jennifer’s Body 2, as the film is still in its early stages. But Amanda Seyfried has made it clear in recent interviews that she is hungry to get back into the world of Jennifer’s Body. And she doesn’t plan on doing it without Megan Fox.
Amanda Seyfried told Variety just last year, “I’m not doing it without [Megan Fox].”
Stay tuned for more as we learn it.
