How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days sequel underway — but what about McConaughey and Hudson?

Here's a bit of a blast from the early-2000s past: Paramount is officially poking the idea of a How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days sequel. That rom-com, which basically defined its era, helped make Matthew McConaughey the go-to bloke for romantic comedies, and now, over two decades later, the studio seems ready for another spin. Mind you, it's early doors – there's no script yet, and they're still on the hunt for a writer – but the plan is to reunite McConaughey and Kate Hudson with the same dynamic as before.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days debuted in 2003 and turned into a massive hit for both leads.

The original saw Kate Hudson as Andie Anderson, a magazine writer who tries to purposely drive a man away in just ten days for the sake of an article. Meanwhile, McConaughey plays advertising exec Ben Barry, who’s made a bet he can make any woman fall for him in – you guessed it – ten days. Naturally, chaos ensues as Andie gets increasingly outrageous and Ben digs in his heels, but their cringeworthy schemes wind up forging something a bit more genuine (albeit after a lot of slapstick mishaps and at least one scene involving a very unlucky pet).

Who's Actually Coming Back?

Right, this is the key question: is the sequel actually worth doing if the original cast aren't on board? Word is, both Hudson and McConaughey are lined up to return, provided the script’s any good. Hudson is even set to produce, which usually means the project is more than just a fanciful rumour. And it's not as if McConaughey’s trying to run away from his rom-com roots these days. In fact, he recently admitted the film’s residuals haven’t exactly dried up. Here’s what he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast this month:

‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is the gift that keeps on giving. I think it’s probably my favourite rom-com I’ve done. And a lot of people love that rom-com. It still pays the best “mailbox money” of any film I’ve ever done. By far. … When [home video] used to be just DVDs or cable [instead of streaming or VOD], every March I’d get a big check because of Valentine’s Day.’

So, in other words, the two leads might have strong incentive to dust off their chemistry for one more run.

Where’s the Story Going?

As for actual plot, that’s anyone’s guess at the moment – nothing’s locked in until a writer is hired and the studio figures out how to pick up the threads two decades on. Will Andie and Ben be battling over relationship mishaps again? Something totally new? Probably not a lot of clarity until a script materialises, but Hudson carrying a producer credit hints that at least some care will go into not butchering what made the first one work.

McConaughey’s rom-com CV from the 2000s was nothing if not prolific: The Wedding Planner, Failure to Launch, Fool's Gold, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. He hasn't dipped his toe back in the genre for quite a while, so this sequel would mark a proper return for him. If nothing else, the nostalgia factor alone will probably shift a chunk of tickets (or, well, drive some streaming views).