Waiting To Exhale Sequel TalksAngela Bassett and Loretta Devine May Reprise Roles
By Wilson Morales
April 20, 2011
It’s been 16 years since the blockbuster romantic film ‘Waiting To Exhale’ came on the big screen, and fans have eagerly been waiting for a follow-up.
Directed by Forest Whitaker, and based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Terry McMillan, the film starred Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Whitney Houston, and Lela Rochon.
The story centered on four female friends (Savannah, Bernadine, Robin, and Gloria) living in the Phoenix, Arizona area and their relationships with men and one another. All of them are “holding their breath” until the day they can feel comfortable in a committed relationship with a man.
While ‘Exhale’ was received with mixed to negative from critics, the film opened at number-one at the North American box office, grossing $14.1 million, and taking in a total worldwide gross of $81.45 million at the end of its theatrical run.
Since McMillan’s latest novel ‘Getting to Happy,’ the long-awaited sequel to ‘Waiting to Exhale,’ was published on September 7, 2010, there’s been rumors of film adaptation of the book and bringing back the same quartet of actresses to reprise their roles.
While promoting their latest film, the romantic comedy, ‘Jumping The Broom,’ two cast members from that blockbuster film, Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine, spoke briefly about the possibility of working again on the sequel.
Is there talks about a ‘Waiting to Exhale 2’?
Loretta Devine: There’s talk.
Angela Bassett: There’s talk. We’re in the middle stages of talking. There’s a script in place, and they (the writers) are happy with it, but there needs to be some tweaking of it. Forest (Whitaker) is on board to direct it. It could go within a year. That’s about all I can tell you. We haven’t read the script because they are getting it together. We can read it now, but they are going to change it. We’ll read it in six weeks.
Very recently, McMillian tweeted the follow, “We are working on the script for HAPPY. Will know in about a month or so when we’ll begin production. Probably on screens in 2012.”
In ‘Getting To Happy,’ Terry McMillan revisits Savannah, Gloria, Bernadine, and Robin fifteen years later. Each is at her own midlife crossroads: Savannah has awakened to the fact that she’s made too many concessions in her marriage, and decides to face life single again-at fifty-one. Bernadine has watched her megadivorce settlement dwindle, been swindled by her husband number two, and conned herself into thinking that a few pills will help distract her from her pain. Robin has an all-American case of shopaholism, while the big dream of her life-to wear a wedding dress- has gone unrealized. And for years, Gloria has taken happiness and security for granted. But being at the wrong place at the wrong time can change everything. All four are learning to heal past hurts and to reclaim their joy and their dreams; but they return to us full of spirit, sass, and faith in one another. They’ve exhaled: now they are learning to breathe.
