Vacation Friends 2 Already In The Works With John Cena Returning

The raunchy comedy Vacation Friends starring John Cena and Lil Rel Howery has gotten the green light for a sequel. Vacation Friends is about two couples who meet on a vacation resort in Mexico and then catch up back home at the wedding of one of the couples, creating some seriously awkward situations. The film stars John Cena and Meredith Hagner as the “wild” couple, with Lil Rel Howery and Yvonne Orji as the more reserved couple.

The film is written by Tom and Clay Mullen, as well as director Clay Tarver and has been around Hollywood for some time, originally slated to star Nicolas Cage and Will Smith at one point before delays forced them both out. After that, the film went through more rounds of stars that signed up and dropped out over time, including Mark Wahlberg, Chris Pratt, Anna Farris, and Ice Cube. After so many delays, the film was rewritten to accommodate newer names, eventually nabbing Cena and Howery as their mains.

With Vacation Friends now streaming on Hulu, Deadline has reported that 20th Century Studios has quickly moved forward to announce a sequel, which will be called Honeymoon Friends. It’s expected that the four main leads will return, including Cena, Howery, Hagner, and Orji, as well as Tarver in the director’s chair. The film is the first to have a simultaneous global release on Hulu and Disney+ (as a Star original in international markets), which is sure to be a common occurrence going forward, especially in pandemic times.

Howery is coming off the massive success of Free Guy, another 20th Century Studios release, and is likely to return for that sequel as well. Cena is coming off the critically successful The Suicide Squad from director James Gunn and recently wrapped filming on the Peacemaker spinoff show that will debut on HBO Max. While Cena began his career as a wrestler, he has turned his eye toward acting more and more, particularly in comedic roles, for which he seems to have a knack for, making his first big impression with the sleeper hit Blockers.

It’s refreshing to see talent unexpectedly find a new niche, and Cena is no exception. He built a strong reputation as a wrestler and has been an ardent philanthropist, using his celebrity to raise money and promote awareness for various causes. Cena has shown that he’s not afraid of edgier material as well, as shown in the raunchy comedy roles he’s taken, such as with Vacation Friends, as well as the more hardcore violent affairs, such as The Suicide Squad and the Peacemaker series. Of course, commercial projects are also in his sights, having recently appeared in F9 alongside Vin Diesel, as well as numerous children’s films, including Ferdinand. Cena is clearly a sought-after star, and Vacation Friends was yet another win for the actor now that a sequel has been greenlit so quickly.

Source: Deadline

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