‘Another Simple Favor’ Director Paul Feig on Reuniting With Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively and Plans for a Third Movie: ‘There’s More Fun Stuff to Be Done With These Characters’

variety.com:

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Paul Feig returns to SXSW for the third time Friday night. Following his previous premieres of “Bridesmaids” and “Spy” at the festival, the director will open this year’s SXSW at the Paramount Theater in Austin with “Another Simple Favor,” the sequel to his 2018 hit “Simple Favor.” Anna Kendrick returns as Stephanie Smothers with Blake Lively as Emily Nelson.

Murderous mayhem ensues when Stephanie travels to Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to an Italian businessman (Michele Morrone). “I always remembered how much I loved working with Anna and Blake, and how creative they both are, and how collaborative they both are,” Feig told me Thursday shortly after he landed in Austin. “It was really like old home week.

We all challenge each other with new things and some outrageous things to do and we had a blast. It was like putting on a pair of comfortable slippers.” Returning cast includes Henry Golding and Andrew Rannells with Morrone, Allison Janney and Alex Newell joining for the sequel, which debuts May 1 on Prime Video. “At the end of the day, it’s a fun, twisty, stylish and sexy thriller in a sort of Hitchcockian way,” Feig says. “They can be funny, and they can also be scary and intense.

You get a full range of emotions and you have a good time.” This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. This isn’t your first South by Southwest premiere. We did “Bridesmaids” as an unofficial premiere because we were supposed to be a work-in-progress.