Even before Valentine’s Day opened, New Line was already talking about a sequel, which would move the action from LA to New York, feature a whole load more celebrities doing an ensemble tale set on New Year’s Eve.
However while it seemed they wanted to make the movie almost instantaeously, things have taken a while to put together, not least because after Valentine’s Day became a hit, the pay many celebs will want has gone up, making it more difficult to get together the sort of star-filled roster the first film had.
Nevertheless, we’d already heard the Ashton Kutcher, Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer were in talks to join the film. Now Variety reports they’ve all closed their deals, while Jessica Biel, Glee’s Lea Michele and Abigail Spencer are in talks to join them (there’s no news on Hilary Swank, who was previously said to be in talks for the film, but isn’t mentioned in the new Variety report).
Both Biel and Kutcher were in Valentine’s Day, but it appears they’ll play different characters in the follow-up, which will be set in New York and follow intertwining stories of characters trying to navigate their way through romance on New Year’s Eve.
Garry Marshall will once more direct, with a December 2011 release date already pencilled in.