Luke Wilson says The Family Stone sequel script is already in his hands
Wilson told Entertainment Tonight that Tom Bezucha’s sequel script is “really funny” and will carry extra meaning after Diane Keaton’s death.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
Luke Wilson has read the script for a planned sequel to The Family Stone, and he says the holiday clan’s return is already feeling emotional.
Wilson told Entertainment Tonight that Tom Bezucha, who wrote and directed the 2005 Christmas family comedy-drama, has written a follow-up. Deadline reported that Bezucha revealed he was working on the sequel after Diane Keaton’s death.
“Tom Bezucha is a great writer and a great director, and I read the script, and it’s really funny, and it’s so nice that everybody wants to work together again,” Wilson said in the interview.
Wilson added that Keaton’s absence gives the project a heavier charge. “And I think you know, after the death of Diane Keaton, it’ll be even more meaningful because she was so great to be around on the first one,” he told Entertainment Tonight.
A Christmas favorite gets another look
The Family Stone followed Sybil, played by Keaton, and Kelly, played by Craig T. Nelson, as they gathered their grown children for the holidays. The family lineup included characters played by Dermot Mulroney, Rachel McAdams, Wilson and Elizabeth Reaser.
The central holiday visit came with plenty of tension. Sybil was preparing to tell her family about her terminal illness, while Everett, played by Mulroney, arrived with plans to propose to Meredith, played by Sarah Jessica Parker. Sybil did not approve of Meredith, according to the film’s setup described by Deadline.
Wilson said the movie’s staying power crept up on him over time. He told Entertainment Tonight that after its release, more people began bringing it up to him through the years, with families saying they watched it around Christmas or Thanksgiving.
“It really caught me by surprise,” Wilson said.
Bezucha has been thinking about Sybil
Keaton died at 79. After her death, Bezucha spoke to CNN about writing the sequel and the emotional weight of returning to the story without her.
“I’ve been haunted by the loss of Sybil for months now while I worked on it, and so this was a blow on a tender bruise already,” Bezucha told CNN. “Mentally, I’ve been spending time in that house where I’ve been missing her for a while already.”
No casting list, production timetable or release date was included in Wilson’s update. What is clear from his comments is that the sequel script exists, he has read it, and the original team’s affection for the first film remains part of the draw.
For fans who made The Family Stone a seasonal watch, the sequel is shaping up as a return wrapped in nostalgia, grief and another round of family friction.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.