The Long-Awaited Jennifer’s Body Sequel Is Officially Happening With Megan Fox Set to Return

The real testament to a film’s greatness (or not) is time. A lot of the films we consider classics today weren’t necessarily as popular (or successful) at the time of their release, and this has never been more true than with the horror genre. Virtually every horror icon we know today started from humble beginnings, and some films have only become truly appreciated as times and tastes have evolved.

Jennifer’s Body might be one of the clearest cases of a film that has become a cult classic with time and perspective. Now, finally, all these new waves of fandom for the film have done what many hoped they would: gotten the Jennifer’s Body sequel into production. If you’ve been following Megan Fox’s recent Instagram posts, suddenly this news doesn’t feel that surprising at all (it was character research!).

Jennifer’s Body 2 Officially Happening – Everything We Know (So Far)

Dread Central napped the exclusive that Jennifer’s Body 2 is officially in the works, after spotting a listing in Production Weekly that seemed to indicate as much. The site then came back with an update, stating that it confirmed the sequel is currently in production. Moreover, the horror site confirmed some key early details about the sequel:

• Diablo Cody is returning to write the screenplay for Jennifer’s Body 2.
• Karyn Kusama is also returning to direct.
• Megan Fox is returning to star.
• Amanda Seyfried has not been confirmed to return… yet.
• No plot details or story premise have been revealed.
• Disney (owner of 20th Century Studios) is producing the sequel, although official distribution plans haven’t been revealed.
• Filming is set to start in Vancouver (the same region where portions of the first film were shot).

The 2009 horror-comedy Jennifer’s Body took the hottest young sex symbol of the time (Transformers star Megan Fox) and turned her into a vicious, demon-faced femme fatale with some killer one-liners. It was also still early in the emergence of Diablo Cody, who was coming off of massive breakout success with her Oscar-winning film, Juno (2007). Everything seemed in line for the film to be a success, as both Fox and Cody were coming off red-hot box office and awards success (respectively), and seemed ready to collaborate on a new hit film, in a genre that was known for giving big returns on small investments (horror).

And yet, Jennifer’s Body hit theaters on September 18, 2009 (well before the overcrowded season of Halloween horror flicks) and still sank like stone. It was slammed by many major critics and seemed to fare even worse with audiences. It left with just $31.6 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of $16 million, and was mocked routinely in parodies and sketches. But remember: time is a funny thing, and Jennifer’s Body has ended up having the last laugh.

New generations have reframed the film (and the central performances of Fox and Seyfried) as a trailblazing feminist horror film – a genre that has grown bigger with time, as more female filmmakers have been telling their stories. It has also pleased many fans who see it as a horror-satire take on real-life toxic friendships that form between girls somewhere between middle and high school.

That leads to some fun new questions about what the sequel will do, story-wise. Jennifer died at the end, and her friend Needy (Seyfried) inherited some of her demonic powers and used them to get revenge for her friend. Assuming Seyfried comes back, we can only assume Jennifer gets summoned back and is more toxic (and powerful) than ever.

Jennifer’s Body is available to watch, rent, or buy on streaming platforms.