‘Best Man Holiday’ Director Responds To The Film’s Box Office Success

The Best Man Holiday director Malcolm D. Lee is no doubt very pleased with the long-awaited sequel’s recent success at the box office.

The follow-up to the hit 1999 romantic comedy The Best Man almost knocked director Alan Taylor’s Thor: The Dark World from the top spot last weekend. In fact, the flick only made $8 million less than its big-budget competitor. Not surprisingly, Universal Pictures hopes Lee will put together a sequel as soon as possible.

During an interview with The Washington Post, the filmmaker said he’d hoped fans would venture into theaters to catch The Best Man Holiday during its first three days in theaters. Turn out they did; the movie earned an impressive $30.1 million from moviegoers.

“The fans of the original are so loyal and so connected to the characters that they loved and were ready to see them again. The studio was very nervous about doing this version of the movie – what I had to tell them that is that it’s not about the wedding setting. It’s not about being a fly on the wall with the guys. It’s about the characters,” Lee said.

He continued, “It’s about how these actors have embodied these characters and that’s why people feel so connected to them. They see themselves in these characters. They recognize themselves. They recognize people they went to school with and people they know and hang out with in these characters. That’s why it’s going to work.”

Lee also revealed that he’s currently in talks with the studio to put together a follow-up to The Best Man Holiday. However, the director cautioned fans not to get their hopes up just yet.

“We’re in talks to make it happen — myself and the studio. Get the cast on board again and then it’ll be all about the script… A lot of things are potential. A lot of things I would like to do including a sequel for ‘The Best Man Holiday.’ We’ll see what happens. I’m hoping for the best,” he explained to The Washington Post.

Judging from the numbers over at Box Office Mojo, the sequel is still doing strong business this week. The movie reportedly made around $2.2 million on Tuesday alone. However, the flick may have a hard time defeating director Francis Lawrence’s highly-anticipated The Hunger Game: Catching Fire this weekend.

Are you a fan of Malcolm D. Lee’s The Best Man Holiday? Do you think Universal Pictures and the director will put together a sequel in the very near future?

[Image via Universal Pictures]