‘Jennifer’s Body 2’ Could Be Happening Sooner Than Expected

When ‘Jennifer’s Body’ arrived in theaters on September 18, 2009, almost nobody imagined a future that included a ‘Jennifer’s Body’ sequel. The horror comedy paired Megan Fox, then at the height of her stardom, with Diablo Cody, fresh off her Oscar-winning success with ‘Juno’, and put Karyn Kusama behind the camera. On paper, it looked like a sure thing.

Reality hit hard. The film opened to roughly $6.8 million in North America, finished with about $31.6 million worldwide against a budget of around $16 million, and still sits at 47% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. A marketing campaign built around Fox’s sex appeal and aimed at young male viewers did it no favors, burying the movie’s sharp take on female friendship and exploitation.

Then came the reappraisal, with streaming, social media, and a wave of retrospective reviews turning Jennifer Check’s bloody rampage through Devil’s Kettle into a bona fide cult classic. Now Cody is confirming that the story isn’t over. Speaking on the Petticoat Revolution podcast, in an episode about Mary Shelley and the women who make monsters, she revealed that the follow-up is coming “imminently.”

“I can’t talk about it too much, but, you know, we’re doing a sequel to this movie, like imminently,” Cody said. She has already finished writing the screenplay, which means the project has moved well beyond wishful thinking.

That alone would thrill fans, but the more intriguing detail is where Cody wants to take her title character. Rather than simply raising the body count, she’s using the new film to dig into the emotional wreckage behind Jennifer’s monstrous transformation.

‘JENNIFER’S BODY 2’ is happening “imminently,” says Diablo Cody. The script is finished, and she’s digging deeper into Jennifer Check’s loneliness and what makes her sympathetic. Full details: [https://t.co/IqPTnGBmS6] https://t.co/iq5ENN42uP
— Brad Miska @ DREAD CENTRAL (@DreadCentral) October 19, 2026

“I felt like in the new movie, I was able to explore even more about why Jennifer is sympathetic and what she’s been through,” she explained. “And there is absolutely, to me, like a loneliness and a poignancy to that character that people don’t always recognize.”

The original film follows Fox’s popular cheerleader as she becomes a boy-eating succubus, leaving her best friend Needy, played by Amanda Seyfried, to face the carnage. For years, plenty of viewers filed Jennifer under the “mean girl” label, but Cody has never seen her that way.

‘Jennifer’s Body’ was released 17 years ago today. https://t.co/Flh2VuZdSE
— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 18, 2026

“Jennifer is a sympathetic character for me. Before and after the transformation,” she said. “I mean, she is very isolated. She’s very lonely. She’s very insecure.” Cody pointed out that audiences tend to remember Jennifer at her most radiant and powerful, while forgetting the scenes where she’s depleted and hollowed out, “a shell of herself.” She credited Fox with nailing both extremes, adding, “Megan played both of those sides of Jennifer so well.”

Cody’s comments line up with earlier reporting on the project. Dread Central exclusively reported in July that Kusama is returning to direct from Cody’s screenplay and that Fox is back as Jennifer, with filming set to take place in Vancouver. The outlet also confirmed it’s a Disney production, though distribution plans remain unclear.

Seyfried’s return hasn’t been officially confirmed, although Dread Central heard she’s expected back. Production Weekly had listed an October start for cameras, but Cody’s latest remarks didn’t specify a filming date, and no release date has been announced.

Keeping plot details under wraps makes sense, given how decisively the first movie ended for its leading lady. Whatever path Cody has carved out to bring Jennifer back, it’s clear she’s more interested in the girl underneath the monster than in another round of shock value.

For a film once dismissed as a misfire, getting a second chapter this many years later feels like a fitting vindication. If Cody pulls off this more vulnerable version of Jennifer, the sequel could reshape how a whole generation sees one of horror’s most iconic antiheroines.