Love Actually sequel for Comic Relief
- Key cast members of Love Actually are reuniting for a new sequel
- The 10-minute special is being filmed to be shown on BBC One on Red Nose Day, Friday 24th March 2017
- Richard Curtis says: "Who has aged best? - I guess that's the big question... or is it so obviously Liam?"
The BBC and Comic Relief have announced that a short Love Actually sequel will be broadcast on Red Nose Day.
Red Nose Day Actually has begun filming today. The 10-minute film will revisit characters from the 2003 hit romantic comedy and find out what their lives are like in 2017.
The original film, written and directed by Comic Relief co-founder Richard Curtis, interwove the stories of various couples, singles, and their burgeoning and failing relationships, gradually revealing how the disparate groups were interlinked as family and friendship circles.
An all-star cast included Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Martine McCutcheon and Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson and Keira Knightley.
Grant, Knightley, Neeson, Firth, McCutcheon, and Nighy are all confirmed to be returning for the new special, as well as Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lucia Moniz, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Olivia Olson, Marcus Brigstocke, and Rowan Atkinson. Notably, the original film saw Thompson and Rickman as a married couple under strain, he tempted by an extra-marital affair. Thompson's return has not been announced, whilst Rickman died early in 2016.
Creator Richard Curtis, who has written the short revival, says: "Over the years I've enjoyed doing Red Nose Day specials of TV things I've worked on - Blackadder, The Vicar Of Dibley and Mr Bean. It seemed like a fun idea this year to do a special sketch based one of my films, since Red Nose Day is now in both the UK and America.
"I would never have dreamt of writing a sequel to Love Actually, but I thought it might be fun to do 10 minutes to see what everyone is now up to. Who has aged best? - I guess that's the big question... or is it so obviously Liam?
"We've been delighted and grateful that so many of the cast are around and able to take part - and it'll certainly be a nostalgic moment getting back together and recreating their characters 14 years later. We hope to make something that'll be fun - very much in the spirit of the original film and of Red Nose Day - and which we hope will help bring lots of viewers and cash to the Red Nose Day shows."
Red Nose Day Actually will be broadcast as part of the live Red Nose Day 2017 show on Friday 24th March on BBC One.
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