What Reese Witherspoon Has Said About a 'Sweet Home Alabama Sequel'

Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas in Sweet Home Alabama

(Image credit: Getty Images)

More than 20 years later, Sweet Home Alabama could be getting a second life. The 2002 rom-com, which starred Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey, and Josh Lucas, is a fan favorite—and rumors are swirling about a potential sequel.

While nothing is set in stone yet, the cast has been receptive to the possibility over the years. In 2022, for instance, Witherspoon said on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna that a sequel "would be a great idea" (via People). Lucas, too, said in 2018 that he'd "do it in a second."

"I think it would be so fascinating to see where these two characters and the children and where everyone ended up. Are they still together? Are they divorced? Do they want to be back together?" Lucas said on The Talk. "I mean, the fact that they were together from when they were children, I would love to see what’s going on 20 years later."

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The movie follows Witherspoon's Melanie, a designer who returns to her Southern hometown and reconnects with her first love, played by Lucas. Fans can only assume the two lived happily ever after—but they wouldn't mind seeing their life together played out onscreen.

And while two-plus decades is a pretty long time to wait between movie installments, anything is possible. After all, one of Witherspoon's other classic 2000s franchises, Legally Blonde, has been reported to have a third movie in development for years now. (Plus, people won't stop asking Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews about The Princess Diaries 3.) If a Sweet Home Alabama sequel were to happen, fans would surely be thrilled.

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Meghan is a freelance news writer at Marie Claire. Her work has also appeared in Bustle, Refinery29, Popsugar, and other outlets. When she isn't writing, Meghan runs a community for plus-size people in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina.