Sequels have always been part of stories, stories and of course films. They can appear in many different forms and formats. One type of sequel that is often overlooked is the Mini sequels. For example, these short films are a common part of events like Red Nose Day.
For these television specials, the casts of big box office hits are always brought together to reprise their roles in a short film and briefly show what happened to their characters. Such a mini-sequel was also planned for Notting Hill, but Julia Roberts didn’t like the idea at all.
Notting Hill screenwriter has revealed why Julia Roberts turned down the sequel
Richard Curtis not only wrote the script for Notting Hill, but also for other RomCom classics like Love Actually. He spoke to IndieWire about his current project A Teeny Christmas Miracle. The question also came up as to whether he liked any of his previous films as Continue feature film would. His answer was quite clear:
I do not believe that. I’ve actually been involved with Red Nose Days and Comic Relief four times. We made these mini-sequels to Love Actually and they satisfied me.
Check out another Notting Hill trailer here:
Notting Hill – Trailer (English)
However, that doesn’t mean he didn’t want to do more. Because he also had an idea for Notting Hill:
I tried to do one with Notting Hill, where they get divorced wanted, and Julia [Roberts] thought that was a really bad idea.
A divorce would actually seriously undermine the effectiveness of the classic. After all, romantic comedy also includes the idea of true love. Even though this cliché is often the target of parodies and jokes that rarely stand up to reality, it is simply part of this fantasy.