During a sit-down with Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew, Jennifer’s Body’s screenwriter, Diablo Cody, exclusively revealed updates on the planned sequel to the original 2009 horror film by director Karyn Kusama, starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried.
The original film charted the transformation of Jennifer Check (Fox) from a popular and admired high school cheerleader to a man-devouring supernatural creature, following an upcoming band’s failed attempts to sacrifice her for immediate fame and fortune. Jennifer’s best friend Anita ‘Needy’ Lesnicki cooks up a plan to stop Jennifer from devouring every guy in their town, especially when Jennifer sets her sights on Needy’s beau Chip Dove (Johnny Simmons).
Kusama’s film opened initially to poor reviews, such as 46% from 212 on Rotten Tomatoes and an underperformance at the box office ($31.6 million from a $16 million budget), with hopes that the casting of Fox would attract a male audience. Upon retrospective analysis, 17 years since its debut, Jennifer’s Body has gone on to be cited as a feminist cult classic in horror due to its thematic values on objectification from the male gaze and female bodily autonomy, all presented in imagery of an attractive, desired young girl killing off the males who seek to overpower her sexually.
Now, the film’s dedicated female fanbase is heavily anticipating the follow-up, which Cody explains as undergoing “…not a typical sequel process, where you’re going, ‘here’s what we’re going to protect from the first movie.”
“It’s more like all the ways in which I was restrained on the first movie, I’m now unleashed”, she added. “So it actually is less a feeling of being cautious and more of a feeling of being careless in the best way.”
The film garnered a strong influx of re-analysis and love following the Me Too movement, something star Fox herself claimed she “was” before it flourished, something the screenwriter commented on, stating she believes “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. I really loved writing this script,” Diablo addressed. “There was not a moment of it that felt like work, which is unusual for me these days.”
The writer also affirmed that “thematically, the whole movie is a response to that rediscovery…” of the original 2009 feature’s messaging.
“Truly, 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, but this one is not just about Jennifer and Needy; it’s about me. It was really, really cathartic to write,” Diablo added. “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.”
Jennifer’s Body is streaming on Disney+ now.
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