by Eric Greene
Jun 25, 2002, 3:15 PM PT
Okay, so the title hasn't been determined yet, but Bruce Willis is set to return for more hijinx as the gangster next door, and Matthew Perry is in negotiations to reprise the role of his hapless neighbor in a sequel to their 2000 comedy The Whole Nine Yards, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Original cast members Natasha Henstridge and Amanda Peet are also reportedly in talks to join the project, which would likely hit theaters in 2003.
Yards, which grossed about $57.3 million domestically, followed the comic adventures of a surburbanite dentist (Perry) stuck in a loveless marriage and living next door to notorious hit man Jimmy "The Tulip" Teduski (Willis) in hiding. Perry's character gets in too deep when his wife forces him to squeal to the Mob in exchange for collecting the bounty placed on Jimmy's head.
Peet played a wannabe assassin who idolizes Jimmy. Henstridge was Jimmy's foxy wife. Rosanna Arquette and Michael Clarke Duncan also costarred in the original, but neither's character survived for the sequel.
No word yet on the new movie's plot, but Franchise Pictures, which produced the original, will catch up with the friendly neighborhood hit man and his tooth doctor buddy by recruiting The Replacements helmer Howard Deutch to take over from original director Jonathan Lynn. Yards scribe Mitchell Kapner will come on board to write the script, according to the Reporter.
Willis is no stranger to sequels, having single-handedly launched franchises from films like Die Hard and Look Who's Talking. He's looking to rebound after Hart's War tanked. Willis is currently finishing up shooting on another military thriller, Hostile Rescue, which is due out next January.
As for Perry, the chances of an Almost Heroes 2 script landing at his door step were about as slim as a follow-up to Fools Rush In. Whole Nine Yards 2 offers a cinematic franchise first for the actor, who will be back as a different kind of wise guy, snarky Chandler Bing, for the final season of NBC's Friends beginning in September. (Coincidentally, Perry and Willis got along so well during the shooting of Yards that Willis agreed to guest star on Friends--a role that earned him an Emmy Award last year.)
Perry will next be seen on the big screen opposite Elizabeth Hurley in Serving Sara, which opens August 23.
Filming on the Whole Nine Yards sequel begins October 4 in Los Angeles.
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