After a huge opening weekend for The Best Man Holiday, Deadline reports Malcolm D. Lee is in negotiations with Universal to write, direct, and produce another installment of his series that first began 14 years ago. The Best Man Holiday cost $17 million to make and has already grossed over $30 million domestically, making it the fifth-largest opening for an R-rated romantic comedy. Box-office analysts claim the film exceeded expectations—though Lee argues his film didn’t so much over-perform as it was simply underestimated.
In related news, the media has made some odd choices in how to refer to The Best Man Holiday, which has a mostly African-American cast. In this very press release, Deadline calls it “urban-themed,” despite the fact that the majority of the film takes place in mansions in the suburbs. Meanwhile, USA Today’s decision to refer to the film as “race-related” (and later “ethnically diverse”) sparked many satirical Twitter responses. Lee also responded to the label, saying, “For anyone who called the movie 'race-themed,' well, that just doesn't make any sense. Yes, it features an African-American cast, but I went out of my way not to make this movie about race. If you were making a list of 15 things this movie would be about, race would be the 20th.”
Given that Lee and Universal are still in negotiations, there’s no word yet on release dates or who from the ensemble cast will return for a third film. But Lee did speak to Entertainment Weekly prior to the announcement, saying a potential sequel would be “a lot of fun, in a different environment, but it will be something that will still have resonance and meaning with the audience. I don’t want to wait another 14 years.”