Following its huge success with Red, White & Royal Blue, the adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s bestseller, which last year came in as one of its top three most-watched romantic comedies of all time, Amazon MGM Studios has greenlighted development on a sequel, with stars Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez set to return.
After making his feature debut with the first film, Matthew López has returned to write the script for the sequel — this time, alongside McQuiston. Berlanti Schechter Films’ Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter will return to produce the film, joined by the banner’s Michael McGrath, as well as López. McQuiston will executive produce.
Released last August, Red, White & Royal Blue follows Alex Claremont-Diaz (Perez), who upon his mother’s (Uma Thurman) election as President, is promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, brilliant — his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a long-running feud with his royal counterpart across the pond, Prince Henry (Galitzine). And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an altercation between the two, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.
Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagramable friendship grows into something more meaningful than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could complicate his mother’s re-election campaign and upend two nations, and begs the question: Can love save the world after all?
Details as to the sequel’s plot are under wraps. News of its development was announced during a Q&A tonight following a screening of the film at the Culver Theater, which came ahead of Amazon’s inaugural upfront presentation, scheduled for May 14.
The top-watched film worldwide for Amazon in its first three weeks of release, Red, White & Royal Blue was also said to have generated “a huge surge” in subscribers for the streaming platform, per a spokesperson.
A star on the rise, Galitzine can currently be seen starring opposite Anne Hathaway in Prime Video’s rom-com The Idea of You. He also stars opposite Julianne Moore and Tony Curran in Starz’s historical drama Mary & George.
Also a closely watched up-and-comer, Perez has also been seen in The Kissing Booth films, Starz’s Minx and other projects.
Galitzine is repped by Curtis Brown Group, WME, Anonymous Content, Gang, Tyre, Ramer, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole; Perez by Paradigm, Principal Entertainment LA, and Felker Toczek Suddleson; López by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer; and McQuiston by KT Literary, UTA, and Alexander, Lawrence, Frumes & Labowitz.