Hulu to Bring Back Cena, Lil Rel and Friends for a Second ‘Vacation’
For these friends, the vacation isn’t over.
Less than a week after having the most successful opening weekend of any Hulu original movie ever, the streamer ordered a sequel to the comedy starring John Cena and Lil Rel Howery.
Directed by Clay Tarver and co-written by the team of Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, and Tim and Tom Mullens, Vacation Friends follows a couple (Lil Rey Howery, Yvonne Orji) who meets up with another couple (John Cena, Meredith Hagner) while on vacation in Mexico. The foursome’s friendship takes an awkward turn when they return home.
Tarver is set to write and direct the next installment, which Deadline reports will be called Vacation Friends. The sequel will reunite the main cast along with producer Todd Garner.
The team at 20th Century Studios is ramping up its slate of films for the company’s various streaming services. The Disney-owned studio led has a number of features in the works that will stream as Hulu Originals in the U.S. and internationally as Star Originals on Disney+. Upcoming features include the suspense thriller No Exit, The Princess starring Joey King, and the Shakespeare-inspired romantic comedy Rosaline starring Kaitlyn Dever.
20th Century is finding success both at home and in theaters. Its original comedy Free Guy, despite worrisome pandemic box office trends, is becoming one of the year’s biggest hits of the year for an original concept, taking in nearly $80 million in domestic box office and more than $180M worldwide. Free Guy also has a sequel in development.