Show Caption
It took quite a lot longer than 10 days, but Matthew McConaughey's favorite rom-com of his career is finally getting a second date.A sequel to the 2003 romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" is in early development at Paramount, a source familiar with the project but not authorized to speak publicly confirmed.Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey starred in the original movie, and Hudson will take on a new role as a producer on the sequel.USA TODAY has reached out to Paramount, Hudson and McConaughey.It hasn't been confirmed if Hudson and McConaughey will both also reprise their roles. The Oscar-nominated actress was not a producer on the original movie, though she currently serves as executive producer on her Netflix comedy series "Running Point." She also previously produced her 2009 rom-com "Bride Wars."'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' sequel comes 23 years after originalReleased in 2003, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" starred Hudson as a magazine writer who sets out to push a man away by intentionally doing everything women do wrong in relationships for a "how to" column, while McConaughey played an advertising executive who bets that he can quickly make a woman fall in love with him. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the film performed well at the box office at the time.Hudson had previously teased the idea of a sequel in an interview with USA TODAY earlier this year after a reference to the film popped up in Season 2 of her show "Running Point.""I feel like that could happen if it was the right situation," she said in April. "If it was the right script and the right way in, I think that I would definitely be open to it. But nothing's in the works at the moment."The "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" sequel comes as Hollywood has been leaning into long-awaited follow-ups to comedy favorites from the late 1990s into the mid-2000s. In May, nostalgia for "The Devil Wears Prada" propelled the 20-years-later sequel, starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, into one of the year's biggest hits: "The Devil Wears Prada 2" grossed nearly $700 million worldwide, roughly twice what the original movie made in 2006.In 2025, the long-awaited "Freaky Friday" sequel "Freakier Friday," which again arrived about 20 years after the first movie, also performed moderately well, though not to the degree of "Devil Wears Prada 2": That sequel grossed $153 million worldwide.But there's reason to believe there's still enough love out there for "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" for a follow-up to be a hit. McConaughey recently cited his own pay stubs as evidence: On the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast in August, the Oscar-winning actor revealed that out of all the movies he's starred in, he still makes "by far" the most money off of "How to Lose a Guy" due to to its annual uptick in popularity every Feb. 14."When it used to be just DVDs or cable, every March, I'd get a big check, because Valentine's Day," he said, also calling the film "probably my favorite rom-com I've done."Other long-awaited sequels to late '90s or early 2000s favorites that are on the way include "Practical Magic 2," starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and a sequel to 1997's "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion," with Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow returning. A fourth movie in the "Meet the Parents" franchise is also releasing in November, and in 2025, it was reported that a sequel to "My Best Friend’s Wedding," the 1997 Julia Roberts rom-com, is in the works, from "Past Lives" director Celine Song.At the same time, original romantic comedies have recently been having a rough go of it in theaters, with films like "One Night Only" and "You, Me & Tuscany" underperforming at the box office this year.Contributing: Erin Jensen, USA TODAY
