It's official: Jennifer's Body 2 is in the works – and, now, Diablo Cody has offered up a few cryptic clues as to what we can expect from the horror sequel.
Firstly, it's "not a typical follow-up". While appearing on Bloody Disgusting's The Boo Crew podcast, Cody said that instead of going into the project thinking about all the things she wanted to "protect" from the 2009 original, she's keen to make up for "all the ways in which [she] was restrained on the first movie."
"I'm now unleashed," she teased. "So it was less a feeling of being cautious and more of a feeling of being careless in the best way."
Directed by Karyn Kusama, Jennifer's Body sees the titular cheerleader (Megan Fox) get possessed by a demon after a fame-hungry rock band uses her in a Satanic ritual. Much to the dismay of her bookish best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried), Jennifer's perky personality soon makes way for something much darker, as she begins feasting on her male classmates as a way to preserve her health and beauty.
"Obviously Jennifer's Body is very important to me. I love it, but I actually feel like the culture has caught up with what we were trying to do with that movie. Now it's like I can really stretch my legs," added Cody. "The [sequel] is a response to that rediscovery [of the first film]. I cannot even think of [another] scenario, and we've tried, where a movie flopped critically and commercially and then got a sequel."
When it was released in the late '00s, Jennifer's Body received mixed-negative reviews, as critics slammed it for "failing to be either funny or scary enough to satisfy." It earned just 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and pulled in $31.5 million at the worldwide box office, from a $16 million budget. Since then, though, it's gone on to be considered a cult classic, with many arguing that it was ahead of its time.
"It was an unusual situation where the fans were able to inspire me back. The whole movie is infused with that love and appreciation and discovery. Every movie is about something, other than what it's about," said Cody. "But this one is not just about Jennifer and Needy, it's about me. It was really, really cathartic to write. I felt a lot of gratitude in the writing process, because it wouldn't be happening if people hadn't shown so much love for the first movie."
While we wait for more news on Jennifer's Body 2, which may or may not bring back Seyfried and Fox, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.
