As summer creeps closer, so too might a return to one of queer cinema’s most beloved destinations. Director Andrew Ahn has revealed that a sequel to Fire Island, the 2022 gay romantic comedy that reimagines Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for a modern LGBTQ+ audience, remains very much on the cards — if not quite booked.
There’s “always been conversation about doing a sequel,” Ahn said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t know if a real concrete idea has been formed yet, but there are things in the ether.”
Starring Joel Kim Booster, who also penned the screenplay, alongside SNL‘s Bowen Yang, Fire Island won praise for its breezy wit and sharp cultural commentary. The film follows a group of close-knit friends navigating love, lust and class on the titular gay getaway. Booster plays Noah, who’s determined to help his best friend Howie (Yang) find romance, all while sidestepping his own complicated feelings for the brooding Will (Conrad Ricamora).
Also featuring Margaret Cho, Zane Phillips and Matt Rogers, the ensemble cast helped cement the film’s reputation as both a heartfelt homage and a refreshingly modern queer narrative.
And the group’s chemistry isn’t limited to the screen. “We are part of a group chat. It’s nicknamed Pantry Girls after the Pines Pantry on Fire Island,” said Ahn. “We’re so supportive of each other. It’s such a great group. We had a big Fire Island reunion yesterday at the Los Angeles premiere of The Wedding Banquet. We’re still in each other’s lives.”
The possibility of a sequel remains open, even if still nebulous. Booster, Ahn said, often jokes about a potential return à la And Just Like That, the Sex and the City revival that picks up decades later: “He says it’ll be 30 years on and they’re older and gayer. We’ll see what happens.”
In the meantime, Ahn is reuniting with Yang for his remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 classic The Wedding Banquet, which premieres 18 April. The modern reimagining stars Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen and Academy Award-winner Youn Yuh-jung.
