Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. Shutterstock(2)
Too good to be true. Nancy Meyers denied rumors that a sequel to 2006’s The Holiday was on the way.
“So many DM’s about this — sorry but it’s not true. ,” the director shared via Instagram on Tuesday, December 6.
Reports circulated on Monday, December 5, claiming that a follow-up was in the works and set to start filming with all the major stars signed on to return. Journalist Katie Couric spoke for many fans when she commented with a simple broken heart emoji on Meyers’ post shooting down the rumors.
The Holiday starred Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as Amanda and Iris, respectively, two women who exchange houses for the Christmas season after being jilted by the men in their lives. Amanda trades her swanky Los Angeles mansion for Iris’ quaint English cottage and falls for Iris’ brother (Jude Law). Meanwhile, the British writer soaks up the sun in California while falling for Amanda’s colleague (Jack Black).
The movie, directed and written by Meyers, had a budget of $85 million and earned over $205 million at the worldwide box office.
It only earned one award — a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Chick Flick. However, it remains a beloved Christmas movie, with live concerts for the soundtrack hosted in London and Alamo Drafthouse theaters hosting screenings this year.
Meyers recalled that the film wasn’t immediately a favorite when it hit theaters. “Criticism stings, and you move on. The Holiday is the perfect example,” she told Vulture in a December 2020 interview. “If anybody in 2006 in December, when that movie came out, told me 14 years later someone’s going to say ‘When it’s December, you watch The Holiday‘ — what can I tell you? Time will tell. The audience is everything.”
Diaz, for her part, recalled getting to spend a lot of time working with Meyers because Amanda has so many solo scenes.
“The funny thing is that I did a lot of acting on my own, and just with Jude,” the Avaline wine founder told Vulture in December 2020. “Because we only had one scene with Jack and Kate. Our characters never crossed over. Basically Kate and Jack did their movie; Jude and I did ours. We only had the one scene at the end, where we all came together, and we shot that kind of at the beginning of the [shoot].”
‘The Holiday’, 2006. Simon Mein/Sony/Kobal/Shutterstock
She continued, “Jude and I had a lot of fun shooting our bits. But I mean, there’s a lot of scenes where Amanda’s just kind of trudging along on her own. Trying to figure out her life. And I’m just acting with Nancy the whole time, which was a lot of fun.”
Diaz largely retired from acting after her role in 2014’s Annie, but she’ll step back in front of the camera soon for Netflix’s Back in Action opposite Jamie Foxx, which was announced earlier this year.