Christmas came early for Universal this year when The Best Man Holiday jingled its way into a massive $30 million dollar debut weekend, only being bested by Thor: The Dark World. Even more shocking is the fact that the film’s predecessor, The Best Man, debuted fourteen years ago and managed to rake in a little over $30 million dollars in its lifetime domestic gross. With numbers like these, it’s no wonder that Universal is in talks with director and writer Malcolm D. Lee and producer Sean Daniel about a potential sequel to really get that holiday spirit going.
With the film taking only an estimated $17 million dollars to produce, a rise in costs for the sequel is lurking in the snow as none of the principal cast members are contracted to return. No blame there either, as waiting another fourteen years might turn this romantic comedy into something less appealing to watch. Nevertheless, the ensemble cast are likely to ask for pay raises and thankfully, Universal has plenty of time to negotiate, as the sequel is still only in talks, which means that a script has yet to be written. Good luck to Lee though as a rush release might be waiting in the wings.
The Best Man Holiday is sure to stick around until the end of the year as the holidays haven’t begun quite yet. With the large amount of buzz surrounding the film that is circulating the internet, Universal better have enough eggnog to go around as the total domestic growth may rise as fast as snow in a snowstorm. I’ll have to admit, it was indeed the buzz that piqued my curiosity, which had me laughing and bawling my way through the film. If plans for a sequel do go through though, count me in as moviegoer who will be hitching a ride with Santa Claus to get in line on release day.