Diablo Cody felt “unleashed” while writing the Jennifer’s Body 2 script
Director Karyn Kusama’s film Jennifer’s Body was considered a flop when it was released in September of 2009. Shot on a budget of $16 million, it made just $16 million at the domestic box office, with its worldwide total coming out to $31.5 million. Few turned out to see it then, but I have been a fan since it first came out – I saw the movie twice in the theatre, and the soundtrack got a good amount of play in my office. So I’ve been glad to see that Jennifer’s Body has earned a cult following over the years, and that all these years down the line from its release it’s still being watched and appreciated. The movie has gotten so popular, a sequel is now in the works, and returning screenwriter Diablo Cody said she felt “unleashed” while writing the script!
Refresher
If you’re not familiar with what Jennifer’s Body is about, it follows Jennifer Check (Megan Fox), a high-schooler who is sacrificed in the woods by a band of power-hungry musicians known as Low Shoulder. The ritual leaves Jennifer possessed by a demon and in order to maintain her strength and beauty, she must feed on boys. Her best friend, Needy Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried), catches on to Jennifer’s hungry habits and tries to keep her boyfriend Chip Dove (Johnny Simmons) safe from Jennifer’s sharp-toothed, sludge-spewing jaws.
Sequel
Cody discussed her work on Jennifer’s Body 2 during an appearance on the The Boo Crew podcast. Our friends at Bloody Disgusting report that she said, “It actually is 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. So it actually is less a feeling of being cautious and more of a feeling of being careless in the best way. 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. I really loved writing this script. There was not a moment of it that felt like work, which is unusual for me these days.“
Cody went on to say, “Thematically, the whole movie is a response to that rediscovery [of the first film]. 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. 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. I cannot even think of a scenario, and we’ve tried, where a movie flopped critically and commercially and then got a sequel.“
She was joined on the podcast by Mason Novick, one of her fellow producers on the recently released film Forbidden Fruits. Novick has read the Jennifer’s Body 2 script and said, “The script is so good and so funny, and it just hits on so many different levels. It honors the first movie; it also sort of makes fun of the first movie. It makes fun of the experience of it. It deals with a lot of things that feel current today that you couldn’t quite talk about in the first one. I love it. I’ve read it a few times. I love it so much and I’m really excited to go make it.“
What do you think of what Diablo Cody and Mason Novick had to say about the Jennifer’s Body 2 script? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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