What if the enemies-to-lovers plot twist wasn’t just on screen… but a sequel waiting to explode? 😏

Bea and Ben’s Aussie wedding chaos barely cooled—now whispers of a hotter honeymoon hijinks have fans shipping harder than ever. Sydney and Glen spill: Is it happening, or just killer chemistry teasing us? Unlock the full buzz on confirmation and production tea—your rom-com fix starts here. 👉

Nearly two years after Anyone But You turned a Shakespearean romp into a box-office darling, the rom-com gods appear to be smiling on fans clamoring for more. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, the duo whose crackling chemistry propelled the 2023 sleeper hit to over $220 million worldwide, are dropping hints that a sequel isn’t off the table. In a fresh update from Powell during a Hollywood Reporter chat last month, the Twisters star revealed he’s “still talking” with Sweeney about reprising their roles as Beatrice “Bea” and Ben—those prickly exes forced into fake-dating bliss at an Australian wedding. But with no greenlight from Sony Pictures yet, the project’s status hovers in tantalizing limbo: confirmed in spirit, perhaps, but not quite in production. As Sweeney coyly put it in a May Empire interview, “It’s not a no… you’ll have to wait and see.” For a genre long declared dead, this could be the resurrection rom-com lovers have been begging for.

The original Anyone But You, helmed by Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends with Benefits) and loosely riffing on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, arrived quietly on December 22, 2023, amid a post-strike Hollywood slump. Critics were middling—Rotten Tomatoes clocked it at 54% fresh, with detractors like those at The Guardian calling it “a frothy nothingburger” reliant on “nudge-wink innuendo.” Yet audiences devoured it, handing over an A CinemaScore and an 87% Popcornmeter score, fueling a slow-burn theatrical run that outgrossed expectations by a factor of 10 on its $25 million budget. Streaming on Netflix since early 2024 only amplified the frenzy, with TikTok edits of Sweeney and Powell’s cliffside smooch racking up billions of views and spawning fan campaigns under #AnyoneButYou2Now. The film’s secret sauce? That enemies-to-lovers arc, where a steamy coffee-shop hookup sours into six months of radio silence, only for fate (and a Sydney destination wedding) to shove Bea and Ben back together. Pretending to couple up to spite their meddling families, they tumble from barbed banter to genuine heat—capped by a rain-soaked confession that’s become rom-com catnip.

Sweeney’s fingerprints were all over the project from the jump. As executive producer alongside her then-fiancé Jonathan Davino, she championed the script by Ilana Wolpert and Gluck, drawn to its “early 2000s vibe” of rain-kissed longing and laugh-out-loud mishaps. “I felt like I was reading something that would make me want to fall in love,” she gushed to The New York Times in April 2024. Casting Powell was a coup; the Top Gun: Maverick breakout, fresh off a pilot’s swagger, brought boyish charm laced with sarcasm to Ben, the slacker law grad dodging family pressure. Their meet-cute at the 2022 MTV Awards sealed it—Sweeney, then riding high from Euphoria and The White Lotus, saw sparks immediately. “We have effortless chemistry,” Powell later admitted, crediting it for the film’s unforced zing.

Production kicked off in February 2023 in New South Wales, transforming Sydney’s iconic spots—the Opera House, Bondi Beach, Barrenjoey Lighthouse—into a sun-drenched playground for hijinks. The ensemble rounded out the Bard-inspired beats: Alexandra Shipp as Claudia (Bea’s globe-trotting sister), GaTa as Pete (Ben’s hype-man bestie), Hadley Robinson as Halle (the bride-to-be), Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths as the parents with passive-aggressive agendas, Michelle Hurd as Carol (the no-nonsense aunt), Bryan Brown as Roger (the gruff uncle), and Darren Barnet as Jonathan (Bea’s smarmy ex). Newcomers like Charlee Fraser (Margaret) and Mia Artemis (Nat) added fresh faces, while cameos from Dermot’s My Best Friend’s Wedding roots nodded to rom-com royalty. Gluck’s direction leaned into R-rated romps—think nude beach chases and scorpion-stung grope-fests—without tipping into raunch, striking a balance that Variety dubbed “cheeky but not cheap.”

Off-screen, the promo tour was pure tabloid gold. As Anyone But You climbed charts, so did whispers of a Sweeney-Powell fling—fueled by cheek-to-cheek Instagrams, a red-carpet dip, and suspiciously timed breakups. Powell split from model Gigi Paris mid-tour; Sweeney stayed engaged to Davino but leaned into the buzz, later confessing to CBR in April 2024 that it was “calculated chaos” to sell tickets. “People want what’s on screen off screen—we just leaned in,” Powell told Business Insider, praising Sweeney’s savvy. The ploy worked: The film snagged MTV’s Best Comedic Performance for both stars and sparked endless “ship” debates. Sweeney addressed the gossip head-on during her February 2024 Tonight Show stint, quipping, “Glen and I are talking about stuff… you never know.” (Post: From Sweeney Daily X account, Feb 13, 2024.)

Fast-forward to 2025, and the sequel chatter has evolved from fanfic fodder to insider whispers. Powell’s August THR reveal—that he and Sweeney are “still talking” scripts—came amid his post-Twisters glow-up, where the tornado-chaser sequel hauled $400 million and cemented him as Hollywood’s new leading man. Sweeney, meanwhile, has juggled Euphoria Season 3 (filming in Barcelona as of May), Ron Howard’s Eden thriller with Vanessa Kirby, and a Christy Martin boxing biopic. Yet, in that Empire chat, she neither confirmed nor denied, opting for a sly, “I don’t have an answer that I can say,” which Collider interpreted as “cautiously optimistic.” Sources close to Sony tell Deadline the studio’s eyeing a 2027 release to capitalize on the rom-com resurgence—think Fly Me to the Moon ($99 million) and The Fall Guy ($180 million)—but only if Gluck returns and the budget stays lean.

Plot teases are scarce, but logic points to wedding bells for Bea and Ben: Perhaps a honeymoon gone awry, with meddlesome in-laws (cue Mulroney and Griffiths) stirring fresh feuds. Or a Bachelor-style twist, thrusting them into reality TV hell. Sweeney, ever the producer, has voiced interest in “more hijinks, another location—maybe Greece?” to Empire, while Powell joked to GQ in September 2024 about checking his inbox for scripts: “I’m not writing it, but send ’em all.” Fan theories on Reddit’s r/romcoms range from Bea pursuing law (nod to her Euphoria smarts) clashing with Ben’s wanderlust, to a baby bump subplot echoing the original’s fertility jabs. X (formerly Twitter) lit up post-Powell’s update, with #AnyoneButYou2 spiking to U.S. Top 50; one viral post from @sweeneydailyx (Feb 2024) garnered 1.5 million views, amplifying Sweeney’s tease.

Not everyone’s sold. Some critics, like those at Roger Ebert’s site, worry a sequel risks “sequel-itis”—diluting the original’s scrappy charm for franchise bloat. “Rom-coms thrive on surprise; twice might feel forced,” one review mused. Sweeney addressed this in her May E! News sit-down, cryptically noting, “While I can’t confirm or deny, the audience spoke—and we’re listening.” Her personal life adds intrigue: Post-Davino split in March 2025 (echoing the film’s breakup beats), she attended Powell’s sister Leslie’s Dallas wedding, sparking fresh rumors Vanity Fair dubbed “inevitable fanfic fuel.” Powell’s mom, Cyndy, shut it down to Daily Mail: “They’re just great friends—we love Sydney.” Still, the pair’s off-screen bond—forged in Bondi mud and scorpion stings—feels tailor-made for more screen time.

Broader industry winds favor a follow-up. Netflix’s rom-com boom (Anyone But You‘s streaming legs prove it) and Sony’s push for IP extensions (see Jumanji sequels) make economic sense. Nielsen data shows the genre up 30% in viewership since 2023, with Gen Z craving “comfort chaos” amid doom-scrolling. Gluck, who’s eyed for The Running Man remake with Powell, told IndieWire in June 2024 he’s “game if the script sings.” Casting calls could lure back Shipp (post-Deadpool & Wolverine) and Robinson (The Recruit Season 3), perhaps adding A-listers like Margot Robbie for a sister-in-law foil.

As of now, no cameras roll—production would likely hit 2026 for a holiday 2027 bow, aligning with Sweeney’s Housemaid adaptation wrap. But with Powell wrapping Chad Powers on Hulu and Sweeney eyeing more producing gigs, their schedules align like fate. Fans aren’t waiting idly: Petitions on Change.org top 50,000 signatures, and X threads speculate wild plots, from time-travel weddings to ex-revenge arcs. One post from @WatchMoviesOnX (June 2024) sharing set pics drew 181,000 views, underscoring the hunger.

In a landscape dominated by superhero slogs and true-crime tedium, Anyone But You was a reminder that sometimes, all it takes is two stars, a sharp script, and a leap of faith. If 2 happens, expect more of that Powell-Sweeney magic: witty wounds healing into swoony saves. Until then, revisit the original on Netflix, where Bea and Ben’s Sydney saga still sparks. Because in rom-com land, the wrong first date can lead to the right forever—and maybe, just maybe, an encore.