Blake Lively ‘feud’ with A Simple Favor co-star Anna Kendrick denied by director after movie ‘implosion’

Hollywood director Paul Feig has vehemently denied rumors that a sequel film featuring Blake Lively has been axed following a fallout with him and her co-stars.

The rumor was ignited on Friday night when a social media user on X claimed that the follow-up to the 2018 movie A Simple Favor had been put on hold. The original film, directed by 62-year-old industry veteran Paul, saw Blake take on multiple roles to portray Emily Nelson, aka Hope McLanden, and also aka Faith McLanden.

The comedy-thriller also starred Anna Kendrick as Stephanie Smothers, who investigates the disappearance of her glamorous friend. In recent months, Blake has found herself in the midst of numerous negative headlines following a dramatic fallout with her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni.

However, when an X user suggested that A Simple Favour 2 had been cancelled due to Blake and Justin’s dispute, Paul stepped in to assert that this was simply not true. The original X post that sparked the controversy read, “BREAKING: Amazon shelves A Simple Favor 2 indefinitely. Despite glowing test screenings, Blake Lively’s refusal to promote-amid her messy legal battle with Justin Baldoni-and growing tensions with Anna Kendrick have derailed the sequel.”

He claimed, “Anna is furious. Paul Feig is disappointed. Hollywood is in shock. This isn’t just a movie-it’s an implosion.” However, director Paul Feig quickly debunked these allegations, calling them out as unfounded, reports The Mirror. On X, he wrote, “This is total BS. Sorry. The movie is finished and coming out soon. Don’t believe anything you read on social media these days.”

The person who made the original post pressed for more details, questioning, “Hi Paul, if my story is ‘false,’ could you clarify why Amazon hasn’t set a release date for a film that wrapped in April 2024? Why are there no promo plans yet? Saying ‘coming out soon’ doesn’t really address the delays or the concerns. Would love to hear more!”

But Paul stood firm on the film’s forthcoming release, explaining, “My friend, it’s called post production, which generally takes over half a year at least when you factor in editing, scoring, special effects, sound mixing, close captioning and all the technical quality control that has to be done. Our post schedule always had us finishing everything by mid-January.

“Movies don’t come out the second they’re finished because the studio spends the previous year deciding the best date to release it. We’ve always planned on something in the spring/summer of this year. That’s how movies work. I hope this helps.”

A fan chimed in on Paul’s posts, expressing gratitude with the comment, “Thank you for confirming that this thread is bs!” The director didn’t miss a beat and responded, assuring, “The movie is awesome, and Blake and Anna turn in amazing performances. I can’t wait for you all to see it. Stay tuned for more details. Simple Favor 2 is coming soon!”

The first A Simple Favour film was a critical hit – receiving positive reviews with both Blake and Anna praised for their performances. And it also performed well at the Box Office – making more than four times its budget in ticket sales.

Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories.

This post was originally published on here