A sequel to the beloved 2005 Christmas movie The Family Stone is officially in the works. Sarah Jessica Parker is among the many members of the original ensemble cast confirmed to return for the new film, along with Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Luke Wilson, Tyrone Giordano, Elizabeth Reaser, Brian White and Paul Schneider.
One key member of the cast will be missing: the late Diane Keaton, who died last October at the age of 79. The plot of the first film followed the family as they came to terms with her character Sybil’s terminal diagnosis and eventual death. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new film’s logline reads: “Twenty years after their mother’s passing, the Stone family reunites for Christmas only to face the season’s biggest surprise: their father has unexpectedly invited the woman he’s fallen in love with to meet the family.” The sequel will be written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, who was also the creative force behind the original film.
Bezucha said last year that he hopes to “honor” Keaton with the new film. In an interview with CNN, Bezucha said he was already at work on the script for the sequel when he learned that Keaton had died. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. The 2005 film performed well at the box office, making almost $93 million worldwide against a budget of $18 million, and has gone on to become a perennial festive favorite. However, it was not received well by all critics when it was originally released.
In a scathing review for The Independent, critic Anthony Quinn wrote: “As a tribute to touchy-feely family values, only Cameron Crowe's recent Elizabethtown could top this for sheer falseness and vacuity. Try not to squirm as the various Stone siblings' Christmas homecoming becomes a kind of liberal fantasist's parade of pieties - deafness, gayness, racial togetherness and that old standby terminal illness are all embraced at the family hearth.” Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
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