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Universal Might Make a 'Bridesmaids' Sequel Without Kristen Wiig?

by Ethan Anderton
January 4, 2012
Source: THR

After nearly raking in $300 million worldwide at the box office, it's no surprise that Universal is more than pleased with the success of Bridesmaids, especially with the recent nomination for a Producers Guild Award, one of the predecessors and predictors of the Best Picture nominations at the Academy Awards. In fact, the studio is so pleased, that they're already looking at their options for a sequel, but they might have to do it without a key talent from the original film. THR has word that development on the sequel has been stagnant because star and co-writer Kristen Wiig just isn't interested in making a sequel to the comedy.

As of now, Wiig flatly told THR that she and co-writer Annie Mumolo simply aren't involved. "We aren't working on that. Annie and I aren't planning a sequel. We are writing something else, " Wiig said. So why the adamant opposition to a sequel? Speculation has surfaced that Universal, being happy with the film's box office success, might have been a little cheap when handing out bonuses to the six principal titular cast members which included Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper. Each actress received a $100,000 bonus, and while Wiig might have balked at the low amount in comparison to the film's success, she declined to comment on that particular fact. Either way, Wiig isn't budging (at least not yet) as studio chief executive Ron Meyer even took her out to dinner in New York to talk about the project, and she still wouldn't take the cake.

So what does that mean for the potential for a sequel? Apparently Universal doesn't mind doing it without Wiig if they have to, and that's a big mistake. The studio says, "We are over the moon with the success of Bridesmaids, and if we do a sequel we want to get it right." Well if you want to get it right, you wouldn't do it without Wiig and Mumolo writing the script since that's what made most of the film so damn hilarious to begin with. Combine that with the fact that Wiig was the lead character in the original, and Universal is just digging themselves into a deeper hole. Sure Melissa McCarthy could lead a sequel and audiences would be interested, but that's just about the cheapest, dirtiest, cash-grabbing tactic the studio could use.

At this point, it's not clear if anyone else is truly interested in a Bridesmaids sequel immediately either. Producer Judd Apatow says, "The key is we have to come up with an idea that is as good or better than the first one. We don't want to do it unless it can be great. I don't think anyone has had the brain space to think about it yet. Hopefully that can begin this year." Of course, this could all just be some sort of ploy to keep the May 2011 release fresh in people's minds as the Academy Awards nominations are close to being tallied, so maybe we won't have to worry about this sequel situation just yet. What do you think?

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