Something Borrowed Producer Optimistic for Sequel, Describes It As 'When Harry Met Sally in London'
The Ginnifer Goodwin-Kate Hudson chick lit adaptation Something Borrowed, based on Emily Giffin's bestselling beach read, didn't exactly score with critics (Read Stephanie Zacharek's takedown here) and came in at #4 over the weekend with a $13.9 box office take. But producer Molly Smith, speaking to Movieline Monday, is optimistic that a sequel will move forward -- and she's counting on fans of the novel to buoy demand.
"It's still a little early," Smith admitted when reached by telephone Monday. "We think that we're going to have great legs on this film and play for weeks and weeks to come. So it's still a little early to make an official call on the sequel, but we're still very hopeful. And we're very proud of the weekend results."
Critical support was low on the romantic comedy, about a single lawyer (Goodwin) who turns 30 and embarks on an illicit affair with her best friend's fiancé (Colin Egglesfield). Her best friend (Hudson), meanwhile, is self-centered and maybe-kinda-sorta deserves what's coming. Something Borrowed scored just 16 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but Smith shrugged off the lackluster reviews. "The one thing I'll say is that this movie has had amazing word of mouth, and obviously [judging from] the CinemaScores [B overall, B+ among women] -- people who are seeing it are loving it, which makes us very happy and proud."
A major criticism of the film focused on the novel's central predicament; Ginnifer Goodwin's heroine, Rachel, sleeps with another woman's significant other -- a traditional no-no in the romantic genre. That shaky moral ground is difficult for many to resolve, which Smith acknowledged.
"You know, I think audiences are used to romantic comedies being sort of tied up with a red bow at the end, and this one's not," she said. "I love that about the film, and that's why we wanted to make it, because this one felt real and genuine. Life is messy and love is messy. That's what we were trying to say with this film, which is that these are real, flawed girls. You know, they're sort of coming into their own and growing up. And it was a story we wanted to tell, about love and life and friendship."
Hudson's character, the betrayed best friend Darcy, is portrayed in Something Borrowed as shrewish and unlikeable -- the easier to accept her being deceived by those closest to her. But the second novel in Giffin's Something Borrowed series, Something Blue, follows Darcy after the events of the first book as she becomes the story's protagonist. How, then, can Smith and producing partner Hilary Swank ensure that the character most vilified in Something Borrowed becomes sympathetic enough to carry the sequel?
"[Readers] dislike Darcy the entire first book - or, the entire first movie, I can say now," Smith acknowledged. "The sequel follows Darcy really coming into her own, and she's forced to grow up. It's a great character arc... she really does grow up in a sort of very real and authentic way." Smith describes Something Blue, which follows Hudson's Darcy to London and reunites her with John Krasinski's Ethan, as "sort of a When Harry Met Sally, in London."
The question of whether or not Something Borrowed will get a planned sequel -- something clearly set up at the end of the film, which Smith and Swank have been developing optimistically -- is up to production company Alcon Entertainment. But Smith says Alcon is pleased with the film's opening box office performance, despite its fourth place finish: "[Alcon] were happy with this result and they feel like this movie will play and have legs, and we're still hopeful. We've been developing Something Blue for quite a while. So we'll make a decision, hopefully, soon."
The onus, then, may be on Giffin fans to bring Something Blue closer to a reality. "Emily Giffin's fan base is insane, and if you look on Facebook or Twitter she has 40,000 girls that follow her," Smith said of the women readers who made the Something Borrowed novels into international bestsellers. "These girls are so passionate, and they're motivated to get to the sequel as well so they're taking girls back and going multiple times, taking book clubs. The response has been really huge."
Having kicked off their joint shingle, 2S Films, with Something Borrowed, Smith and Swank are sticking to the realm of female-oriented literary adaptations for the time being. You're Not You, adapted by Shana Fest from Michelle Wildgen's novel, follows a college student who learns from a terminally ill patient she looks after and might be up next on 2S's slate. Also in development is an adaptation of the thinly veiled Jane magazine satire Falling Out of Fashion, a Devil Wears Prada-esque tale about a Southern girl who ascends the magazine publishing ladder in New York City.
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Comments
No. Just - no.
Few things are funnier than a delusional person who has made a terrible movie talking about how it's going to have "great legs" and "play for weeks and weeks."
Meanwhile, everything is funnier than "Something Borrowed."
Her point about the CinemaScore stands -- B/B+ for those who've seen the film. Surprisingly high? Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a 16 percent Tomatometer while the user rating is 63 percent, though that may be less accurate than an exit poll sampling.
It just better be in 3D.
"Critical support was low on the romantic comedy..."
So what else is new? Critical support is low on just about EVERY romantic comedy! And why is this? It's because approximately 95% of the critics are men who have exactly zero capacity to understand what women like to see for *fun* and thus have no business writing recommendations/reviews for our films. Fun being the operative word here. Sure, we enjoy seeing films like King's Speech and The Social Network, but for fun, for time with our girlfriends, for time away from school or the kids, most girls/women in general enjoy a good romantic comedy.
Guys like to see car chase movies of sci-fi films for a fun time without deep thought involved and to get away from "real life" for awhile, yet rarely are those films as trashed and vilified as romantic comedies are by the critics. Again, it is because these critics are middle-aged men who can't seem to do their jobs professionally when reviewing films like Something Borrowed. They've made up their minds before they walk in the door. If they were truthful and professional they would let someone else handle the reviews of these films (preferably a woman) if they can't see them with an open mind, fairness, and consideration that women and men have different ideas and taste in what constitutes a feel-good movie.
What really needs to happen here is more real-life women (not dreary Manhattan elitists) need to become movie critics!
I loved this book! I like also how they didn't change it for "Hollywood" just to make people feel warm and fuzzy w/ the ending...life happens like this and I think this and the sequel will be great!
I get what you're saying but I don't think its true that 95% of reviewers are men, or that a male critic couldnt appreciate a romantic comedy.
I think those attitudes are probably what you have found from the male audience members in your life. The open hostility shown by many male audience members (husbands and boyfriends etc.) to so-called "women's films" is really just misogyny.
I've read all five of Emily Giffin's books and loved them all! I saw Something Borrowed twice this weekend with two different sets of friends and everybody loved it! The movie was great and the books are even better! I'm rooting for the sequel Something Blue to be made soon!!!!! :0)
I will just interject slightly to say that I am a female film critic in her mid-twenties who is not from Manhattan.
I hated SOMETHING BORROWED. I hate the fact that there are films out there that base entire plots on women hating women. I wonder if, as a woman, my hate for SOMETHING BORROWED was all the more deeper than if I was a man.
I actually liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I thought it was funny and definitely had some unexpected twists (I've never read the books). And Smith's other two movies ("P.S., I Love You" and "The Blind Side") have generated more than half a billion dollars in revenues, so if that's a delusional producer then we should all be so delusional! Ha.
How is "Something Borrowed" a movie about women hating women? Rachel never hates Darcy, which is why she feels guilty over what happened with Dex. She may get angry and upset with Darcy over things, but that's human emotions. She never specifically hates Darcy, her best friend. And Darcy never hates Rachel. Darcy may take Rachel for granted, but she doesn't hate Rachel, not at least until she catches Rachel and Dex together. But, even after that, there was their last scene together where it looked like they still cared for each other, despite what happened. You're seriously a critic? Well, you completely missed the point of the movie. Speaking as a fan of the book and movie, I loved both of them.
Kate,
It sounds like you didn't see the movie nor did you read the books. It wasn't at all about women hating other women. You have no business reviewing movies if you were unable to discern that.
This was a movie about women behaving badly, sure. We can have movies about men behaving badly, but all of a sudden if it's women acting that way, it's a no-no? That is what *I* call gender discrimination, madam. Turnabout is fair play. Women can laugh at ourselves and face our flaws via the movies just like men can (i.e., The Hangover). To say we can't do that is what is setting women back. So get off your damn high horse and review the film rather than giving your flawed and biased social commentary.
(cont) Oh, and I forgot to say, as a reminder, make sure you watch the movie first prior to giving your review (-;
Just because women are able to behave equally as badly as men (which I think we can all agree on, yes?) doesn't mean any critic or viewer has to like them as characters. Kate reserved her judgment for the film, and knowing her it got a a fair shake.
And she has a point - (too) many films geared toward women hinge on plots that pit women against each other. If there were more of a variety of female stories out there this might not be so glaring, but it does get tiresome taken as a whole. Fans of Giffin's novels may not mind this so much and have preexisting affection for these particular characters, but, Something Borrowed (the film) does tie into a larger trend and that's worth noting for anyone with chick flick fatigue.
Kim, as someone who takes her job very seriously, I have never reviewed a film without seeing it first. That, of course, applies to SOMETHING BORROWED.
As a critic, I also understand that my thoughts are filtered through my own opinion. My opinion was that the film was about women who hated women. You clearly don't agree. That's fine by me, but please don't make assumptions about how I do my job when it comes to differences of opinion.
If the movie brought to life the things you liked about the book, I am glad for you (honestly). My experience was totally different.
i am a guy but managed to find this film terrific. critics do look down on movies referred to
as " chick flicks". this was definitely not a movie about women hating women .... and that is not
a matter of opinion. it just isn't. as a matter of fact, for 95% of the movie it is about an uncommonly
close friendship between 2 girls who bonded from an early age and have never let go. it is also
about a couple who fall in love but as the rodgers and hammerstein song says " let their golden
chances pass them by " but get a second chance from the random events that dot our lives.
this film is marked by outstanding acting. goodwin and krasinski were heraded by the critics
but hudson and egglesfield are also excellent. the shots of manhattan and the hamptons are
beautifully rendered and , unlike most hollywood romcoms, the ending begs for clarification. it
leaves you wanting more.
here is a loud vote for a sequel. i am there first day!!!
I thought it was a good movie! Fun to watch, not predictable (as most romantic comedies are) and very entertaining! A sequel would be as good I hope! My wife and I have all the movie channels and very seldom agree with the critics! This was at least a 3 star movie not the 1 1/2 that the critics gave it!
Hear hear.
Kate, you obviously have chosen the WORST profession for yourself. God help the poor people that listen and depend On Your judgement, they've probably missed some good movies thanks to you. Opinions or not, you don't have to like it but you DO have to provide REAL CORRECT FACTS and information on why you didn't approve. THAT is your job. And you have failed to do it correctly. It made it CLEAR that is WASN'T about women hating women. Darcy was selfish and dimwitted at times, yes. Rachel DIDN'T hate her though. And Darcy didn't hate her either. Take her for granted? Most definitely. But she didn't hate her until she found out about the affair. I'm not saying to like it, I'm saying to at least do your job correctly. And despite certain peoples defenses (Jen, who I suspect also didn't like this movie) you really didn't do your job correctly. Now saying "it made cheating seem okay, and as we all know with commen sense it isn't." THAT is a respectable and fair judgement. "it was about women hating women" no. Just, no. That is false, and unless you decide to do your job correctly, I suggest that you quit your job and pick something better for yourself since this is obviously NOT your best choice. And you can come back and say "don't tell me how to do my job." but darling, when you act in an asinine way proving you shouldnt even have this job in the first place? NO ONE should have to put up with you. And another thing, just because your a movie critic, doesn't mean your a good one. And as you have already proven with your false "facts" about this movie. It shows quite clearly you aren't. Learn to do your job, or quit and stop wasting everyone's time, including my own for having to write this response to you. For everyone else out there, I would suggest watching the movie and if you do not like it then read the book because I have done both and can honestly say that I prefer the book.
i really hope theres another one because i love it and ethan should be with rachel not dex ethan has been on her side and has liked sence the 6th grade.it is just comman sence
hope they use the same actors in the sequel!I loved the movie and bought it and watch it over and over again. Colin is a great actor.
i agree with Bella!this was an awesome movie!at no time(except when she caught Dex in Rachel's apartment) did anyone act like they hated each other!!in fact i think the whole point was she loved Darcy so much she gave up her own true love for her!!i hope no one views movies based on this kinds of info.. because u(THE MOVIE CRITIC) were way off on this movie!and Bella was correct!
I have read all of Emily Griffins books several times. Quite simply she is refreshing and develops her characters as very complex multi dimensional individuals struggling to find their way in the world. I am in my fifties. The story echoes the dilemma of many women that I have met over the years. Missed opportunities and regrets ...... It is clearly not a story about women hating women. Perhaps our movie critic should read the books. She would then be capable of actually understanding that this is a story about two friends who love each other. The depth of their relationship has an incredibly long history filled with tremendous adoration of one another. Rachel learns to find her voice. Darcy learns that she can no longer expect to direct every event and relationship around her. She is spoiled and trapped in the entitlement cycle. Reading the book you understand that she is a product of her misguided parenting. In Something Blue ..... The light comes on and she gets it !! Please make the sequel ..... This story needs an ending !!!!
I loved Something Borrowed!!!! Please please do the sequel!!!! I've been waiting for it ever since you teased us at the the ending of the movie!!!
I found this movie absolutely horrid. The characters were all shallow, and I would call Rachel and Darcy anything but "best friends". They clearly had good times together and what-not, but no matter what, If I truly loved and cared about my best friend, I would not being going ANYWHERE NEAR her fiance, even if I used to like him. That, and a perfectly awesome guy got completely rejected, which, based on Rachels' character, I would have expected her to fall for him, in her state of vulnerability and only knowing that Darcy and Dex would soon be married.
In the end, I wasn't happy that the characters got "what they wanted" Because they all, for the most part, did really shitty things to each other, with no real consequence. That, and Rachel thinking she wasn't "hot" was just ludicrous.
The message this movie left with me was"it's ok to cheat and to lie to your best friend, because the guy will still pick you in the end, and therefore you can get away with it" I understand crap like this happens all the time in real life, and it's not a "Fairytale" ending, but nobody learned ANYTHING here.
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