Gil Junger planning 10 Things I Hate About You sequel trilogy

A sequel trilogy to ’10 Things I Hate About You’ is in the works, director GIl Junger has revealed.

A sequel trilogy to ’10 Things I Hate About You’ is in the works.

Director Gil Junger – who helmed the original 1999 teen romantic comedy – is co-writing a script with Naya Elle James titled ’10 Things I Hate About Dating’, and the movie would be the first in a set of three, with the others titled ’10 Things I Hate About Marriage’ and ’10 Things I Hate About Kids’.

The movie hasn’t yet been greenlit but the 70-year-old filmmaker teased he, Naya and original producer Andrew Lazar have “some pretty good ideas”.

He added to People magazine: “’10 Things I Hate About Dating’ is definitively in the works as a feature film. We’re developing it right now.”

Rather than a teen-centred story, the movie would focus on an older cast and Gil would love to get Julia Stiles, who played Kat Stratford in the original, involved again.

He said: “I would love to work with Julia again. She shaped the lives of millions of women. That Kat character really spoke to young women in a very powerful way.”

The cast also included the likes of the late Heath Ledger, Larisa Oleynik, Larry Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allison Janney, Andrew Keegan, Gabrielle Union, and David Krumholtz, and though Gil “hasn’t thought” seriously about who could appear yet, he’d love to reunite with some of the original stars.

He said: “If it resonates with [the original cast] and I can have some cameos or even real parts, I’d love [that].

“I’d love Larry Miller to come back, because he’s so great.”

And Gil would be keen to pay tribute to Heath, who died in 2008 at the age of 28.

Asked if there could be a nod to him and his character, Patrick Verona, in ’10 Things I Hate About Dating’, he said: “I think that’s a beautiful idea, and the answer is now going to be yes. … He deserves to be loved.”

’10 Things I Hate About You’ was a modern retelling of William Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, and the director explained ’10 Things I Hate About Dating’ will be inspired by Molière’s 1666 play ‘The Misanthrope’.

The director also recalled the “beautiful experience” he had when he attended a special screening of ’10 Things I Hate About You’ to mark its 25th anniversary in Los Angeles last year, admitting he “hadn’t seen [the movie] in years”.

He added: “I thought, ‘God, I was so on my game.’ “I remembered exactly where I was standing, what notes I gave there and what I did. And then I look out to the audience [during my Q A], and my 22 year old and my 19 year old were sitting in the front row with their dates. And they weren’t born [when the movie came out]. They weren’t even a thought.

“I thought to myself, ‘This is such a beautiful experience that I get to share this with my own kids, and they get to see the impact that this film genuinely had on people. It was amazing for me.”