I mean, the dumb rumour should have ended as soon as it was birthed but you know how the internet works now and how people are increasingly incapable of detecting bullsh-t. 

 

Sarah addressed this nonsense a few weeks ago when a totally unqualified random on Twitter claimed that Amazon had “[shelved] A Simple Favor 2 indefinitely” because of Blake’s legal drama and that she was refusing to promote the film. Director Paul Feig quickly shut it down. 

 

You’ll note that the tweet that Paul is replying to has been removed. Not surprising since it was bogus then and it is even more bogus now. But here are the screenshots. 

Paul Feig's tweets
Paul Feig's tweets

 

 

For days and days afterwards, though, that Twitter account continued to insist that what they were “reporting” was legitimate, doubling down on their fraud, and twisting the story into a claim that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were using their power to silence them, like what they allegedly tried to do to Justin Baldoni. Which, of course, only further fueled the digital hate campaign that’s been aimed at Blake. 

 

As Sarah noted, Paul had more patience than most in dealing with this troll. But then again it’s easier to be patient when you have a card you’re waiting to play in your back pocket. That card came out yesterday when it was announced that Another Simple Favor will open SXSW in March and will start streaming on Amazon on May 1. 

 

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back at my favorite festival in the world where we successfully launched Bridesmaids and Spy, and I cannot begin to say how honored I am to have our film opening it all,” said Feig. “I’ve avoided making sequels to any of my films but these characters were just too much fun not to revisit. So, to be able to have Anna, Blake, Henry, Andrew, Michele, Elizabeth, Alex and myself watch our film with the great SXSW audience is a bucket list event that I’ll be able to check off March 7th and move playing drums for Dwight Yoakum’s band up to the top slot.” (Source) 

Festival lineups don’t just happen overnight. Talks begin months in advance. So to go back to the stupidity of that rumour, that person did not know sh-t about post-production or anything, really, about how the industry works. 

 

And as for Amazon shelving the project? Jennifer Salke, the head of the film division, also released a statement along with the SXSW announcement: 

“Paul Feig has once again delivered the perfect blend of mystery, wit, and unexpected twists in the highly anticipated Another Simple Favor. The cast, led by the extraordinarily talented Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, brings life to a script that propels the sequel to new heights.” 

As Sarah has already pointed out, this was always the schedule that the film was tracking towards.  how the film was tracking when production wrapped last year. And, wouldn’t you know!, Another Simple Favor is coming out in late spring. This is about as standard as it gets where filmmaking is concerned. And yet, because there are amateurs all over Twitter and TikTok representing themselves as proper entertainment industry analysts and even more people looking for conspiracies, everything is a sh-tshow. Once again Paul had to jump in the comments when someone asked about the edit. 

“It’s my cut. There is no other cut. Blake has been nothing but supportive and a dream to work with. She is the best and an amazing collaborator and I’m her biggest fan. Just wanted to clear that up.”

So. Blake is hitting the road on another press tour. She’ll be at SXSW to promote the movie, her first press tour since It Ends With Us, all while the legal mess with Justin Baldoni continues to play out and people on social media continue to litigate this case in the court of public opinion. That’s how we’re chasing our Oscars hangover. As soon as the Oscars are done, all eyes will be on SXSW.