20th Century Studios is seeing a great deal of success as of recently, and that train is showing no signs of slowing. The Hulu original movie Vacation Friends has netted the streamer its most-watched opening weekend for an original film. According to Deadline, a sequel has also been greenlit, titled Honeymoon Friends.
Though no concrete numbers were provided, this news is encouraging for both Hulu and 20th Century Studios. This is the exact kind of film that can rival the originals put out week-by-week on Netflix. Previous Hulu original films include False Positive, Big Time Adolescence, Run, and Palm Springs, all of which didn't draw nearly as much buzz (with the exception of possibly Palm Springs) as Vacation Friends has pulled. For the sequel, director-screenwriter Clay Tarver will return to both write and direct, though no word has been given yet as for the involvement of co-writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. The main cast, consisting of Lil Rel Howery, John Cena, Yvonne Orji, and Meredith Hagner, will all be back for the second film.
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Honeymoon Friends has no plot details at the moment, though the title does offer a pretty obvious clue, just as the first film's title. Vacation Friends saw couple Marcus (Howery) and Emily (Orji) have their wedding weekend in Atlanta upended by Ron (Cena) and Kyla (Hagner), a couple the two met on their vacation in Mexico. Marcus and Emily are then forced to balance the awkwardness between their 'friends' and family at the time of the wedding.
Hulu is certainly ramping up production on their original films, with several pictures at various stages of development. They have another thriller in No Exit, which will star Dennis Haysbert and Danny Ramirez (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), to be directed by Damien Power and released in 2022. Joey King is also set to star in The Princess, which has been described as Rapunzel meets The Raid. Rosaline, a comedic take on the Romeo and Juliet story with Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, and Kyle Allen, is also being made by 20th Century Studios exclusively for Hulu. The last two projects currently do not have a set release dates, but all of them will be able to stream as Star Originals on Disney+ in international territories.
Honeymoon Friends does not have a release date, though given the first film's success for both 20th Century Studios and Hulu, this is undoubtedly one of their highest priorities at the moment. You can stream Vacation Friends right now on Hulu.