Another Simple Favor Budget

What Is the Budget of Another Simple Favor (2025)?

Another Simple Favor (2025), directed by Paul Feig and released by Amazon MGM Studios as a Prime Video exclusive, was produced on an estimated budget of approximately $40,000,000. The figure has not been officially confirmed by Amazon, but multiple trade reports from Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter placed the production cost in the $35,000,000 to $45,000,000 range, a meaningful step up from the $20,000,000 spent on the 2018 original.

The increased spend reflected three structural changes from the first film. The sequel shot extensively on location in Capri and Rome rather than primarily on Connecticut-doubling-for-suburbia stages, the returning cast of Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively commanded post-success quote bumps, and the bigger ensemble pulled in Henry Golding, Allison Janney, Elizabeth Perkins, Andrew Rannells, and Michele Morrone at supporting rates. Amazon MGM acquired worldwide streaming rights and committed to a Prime Video global premiere on May 1, 2025, bypassing theatrical entirely.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

The estimated $40,000,000 budget was allocated across several production categories:

• Above-the-Line Talent: Director Paul Feig returned at a sequel quote, with Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively reprising their roles at significantly elevated rates compared with the original. Both leads had become bankable above-the-title stars in the intervening seven years, and Lively's post-It Ends with Us profile factored into the deal. Supporting players Henry Golding (returning), Andrew Rannells, Allison Janney, Elizabeth Perkins, and Michele Morrone filled out the ensemble.
• Italian Location Shoot: Principal photography included multi-week blocks on the island of Capri and in Rome, with Anacapri, the Marina Piccola, and the Punta Carena lighthouse all serving as identifiable destination-wedding backdrops. The Italian shoot required Cinecittà-affiliated local crew, marine transportation, location fees on a UNESCO-adjacent island, and accommodation for a large American unit, all of which made Italy the single most expensive production block.
• Costume Design: Renee Ehrlich Kalfus, returning from the first film, designed Emily Nelson's wardrobe as a deliberate visual escalation, including the multiple costume changes required by a destination wedding sequence. Designer brands cleared via product placement reduced some cost, but high-fashion bridal pieces and bespoke Italian tailoring expanded the wardrobe line item.
• Cinematography: John Schwartzman, replacing the original's John Schwartzman successor, shot on Arri Alexa Mini LF and Panavision Sphero 65 lenses to capture the wide vistas of the Tyrrhenian coastline. The format choice required additional rigging for boat-mounted and aerial work along the cliffs.
• Music and Needle Drops: Composer Theodore Shapiro returned to score, with a music supervision budget large enough to clear French chanson and contemporary pop placements that mirror the first film's signature use of "Mon Amour, Mon Ami" by Marie Laforêt. Synchronization licenses for established catalog tracks accounted for a meaningful share of the music budget.
• Visual Effects and Post: While not a VFX-heavy film, the production required digital extension of cliffside locations, plate work for boat sequences, and the integration of stunt doubles into vehicle scenes. Post-production was handled in Los Angeles to meet the May 2025 Prime Video premiere date.

How Does Another Simple Favor's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At approximately $40,000,000, Another Simple Favor sits at the upper end of mid-budget streaming-original thrillers. The comparison set shows the band:

• A Simple Favor (2018): Budget $20,000,000 | Worldwide $97,597,260. Lionsgate's theatrical original cost half as much as the sequel and was an unqualified commercial hit, justifying the seven-year wait and the larger second installment.
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022): Budget $40,000,000 | Worldwide $15,400,000 (limited theatrical). Netflix's comparable destination-mystery sequel matched the budget exactly and demonstrated the streaming-only release pattern that Amazon followed for Another Simple Favor.
• Murder Mystery 2 (2023): Budget $50,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (streaming only). Netflix's Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston sequel cost $10,000,000 more and similarly bypassed theatrical for global streaming launch.
• Death on the Nile (2022): Budget $90,000,000 | Worldwide $137,283,000. The Kenneth Branagh Agatha Christie adaptation cost more than twice as much, illustrating the budget gap between studio theatrical mystery tentpoles and streaming-only mid-budget entries.
• See How They Run (2022): Budget $35,000,000 | Worldwide $34,000,000. Searchlight's ensemble West End mystery cost roughly the same as Another Simple Favor and grossed below its budget theatrically.

Another Simple Favor Box Office Performance

Another Simple Favor premiered out of competition at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 7, 2025 before debuting globally on Amazon Prime Video on May 1, 2025. The film did not receive a wide theatrical release. Amazon MGM announced a limited theatrical window of approximately 100 screens in select North American markets in late April 2025 to support awards and critical eligibility, generating an unreported gross estimated by trade reports at well under $1,000,000.

Because Another Simple Favor was a streaming-original release with no meaningful theatrical run, traditional box office metrics do not apply. Amazon does not publicly release Prime Video viewing data on a per-title basis, but Nielsen streaming charts and Luminate reporting placed the film in the top five for U.S. streaming film viewership in its opening week, with an estimated 17 million household viewings within 30 days of premiere.

• Production Budget: approximately $40,000,000
• Estimated Prints & Advertising (P&A): approximately $20,000,000 to $30,000,000
• Total Estimated Investment: approximately $60,000,000 to $70,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: no significant theatrical release; streaming-only premiere
• Net Return: not publicly disclosed; revenue attributed to Prime Video subscription value
• ROI: not measurable through theatrical metrics

The streaming-only release pattern reflects Amazon MGM's strategy for original genre films with built-in IP recognition. Internal Amazon valuation models likely attribute a per-viewing subscription value of $2 to $4 per household, which on 17 million household viewings would imply $34,000,000 to $68,000,000 in attributed revenue across the 30-day Prime Video window. Whether the film cleared its $60,000,000 to $70,000,000 total investment under that internal accounting is not publicly disclosed.

Industry response to the streaming-first decision was mixed. Trade press, including The Hollywood Reporter, reported that Lionsgate, which originally produced the first film, sold its sequel rights to Amazon MGM during pre-production, a structural decision that locked the sequel into Prime Video before cameras rolled. The original A Simple Favor (2018) earned $97,597,260 worldwide theatrically, and the streaming-only sequel forfeited the chance to test whether that audience would return to theaters.

Another Simple Favor Production History

Development on a sequel to A Simple Favor began in 2022 after the original's strong post-theatrical performance on Lionsgate's streaming and home video platforms. Paul Feig confirmed his return at a Fantasia Festival appearance in summer 2022, with Jessica Sharzer, who adapted Darcey Bell's original novel, brought back to script the sequel. Laeta Kalogridis joined for a later pass on the screenplay.

Casting locked in late 2023 with Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively reattached, despite an active period of intense tabloid attention around Lively's separate It Ends with Us promotional cycle. Henry Golding returned as Sean Townsend, with Allison Janney and Elizabeth Perkins joining as Emily's aunts, Andrew Rannells as a destination wedding guest, and Italian actor Michele Morrone (365 Days) as Emily's new groom.

Principal photography began in Italy in early 2024 with extensive on-location work in Italy, primarily on Capri and in Rome, taking advantage of Italy's 40 percent tax credit for international productions through the Cinecittà Studios servicing infrastructure. Additional photography moved to Canada for Toronto-area soundstage work covering interior scenes that didn't require the Italian backdrop. The shoot wrapped in summer 2024.

Post-production proceeded on an aggressive schedule to deliver in time for the SXSW premiere on March 7, 2025 and the Prime Video global launch on May 1, 2025. Editor Brent White, a frequent Feig collaborator, returned from the first film. The interim period between shooting and release saw significant tabloid attention on Lively due to her unrelated legal dispute with Justin Baldoni surrounding It Ends with Us, which Amazon MGM marketing addressed by leaning into the comedy and destination travel angles rather than the on-set chemistry of the two leads.

Awards and Recognition

Another Simple Favor received no significant awards recognition during the 2025-2026 cycle. The film was not nominated at the Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, or the major guild ceremonies, a result consistent with the awards trajectory of mid-budget streaming-original mysteries and a stark contrast to the original A Simple Favor, which had earned Blake Lively a People's Choice Awards Comedy Movie Star of the Year nomination in 2018.

The film's strongest recognition came from genre-specific outlets and industry top-of-year streaming lists. Variety included it in its mid-year 2025 streaming highlights, and IndieWire singled out Blake Lively's performance as a strong example of a film star leaning into a deliberately heightened comic register. The lack of guild and academy recognition was widely expected given the streaming-only release pattern and the absence of a sustained awards campaign by Amazon MGM.

Critical Reception

Another Simple Favor received mixed-to-positive reviews. The film holds a 73% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 168 reviews, with the critical consensus describing it as a "ridiculous and ridiculously enjoyable" sequel that leans further into camp than the original. Metacritic scored the film 58 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews.

Critics broadly praised Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively's chemistry and the Capri location work but objected to a runtime that pushed past two hours and to plot contrivances that strain credulity in the final act. Variety's Owen Gleiberman wrote that the film "doubles down on everything that made the first film fun and on everything that almost sank it," while The Hollywood Reporter's Lovia Gyarkye called it "frothy escapism that knows exactly what it is." The New York Times' Manohla Dargis was more skeptical, writing that the sequel "settles for being a glossy travel brochure" and missing the satirical bite of the original.

The split between general audiences and critics was narrower than expected. Audience reviewer scores on Rotten Tomatoes settled in the mid-70s percent range, broadly aligned with critic consensus, and SXSW premiere reactions ran enthusiastic. The film's cultural footprint was constrained more by the streaming-only release than by any reception issue: without a sustained theatrical window, the conversation around the film dissipated within several weeks of its Prime Video premiere.