Alex and Henry’s story isn’t over! Amazon MGM Studios announced that a sequel to Red, White & Royal Blue is happening, and now we’re left to wait on the edges of our seats (or thrones) for more details about what’s to come for the followup, which will hopefully arrive at some point on the 2025 movie schedule.
It’s been over a year since Red, White & Royal Blue arrived streaming for anyone with an Amazon Prime Video subscription , and I’ve honestly lost count of the number of times I’ve watched the book-to-screen adaptation . Since the first film has become one of my favorite comfort movies in recent years, it’s pretty encouraging to know that Red, White & Royal Blue 2 (official title has not been announced) is in the works, to say the least. Given the success of the adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s novel, which follows the U.S. President’s son falling for a British prince, it’s not entirely surprising that a followup movie would be lined up. And yet, I’m still celebrating! So let’s get into what we know so far about the new movie...
What Is The Red, White & Royal Blue 2 Release Date?
Sadly, there’s still no word on the release date for Red, White & Royal Blue 2 just yet. Plans for the sequel were announced in May 2024 during a screening event for the 2023 movie . Amazon MGM Studios also released an announcement poster (above), which teases a “2” candle set between UK and USA flags. And of course, those flags are perched atop a very messed up looking cake - a likely nod to Alex and Henry’s hilarious wedding cake incident that awkwardly kicked off their romance in the first book/movie.
The poster asks us if we fancy another slice. Um, I think we do! Now let's hope that this movie finds a way onto our screens sometime soon. Hopefully in 2025? We'll see.
How Will We Be Able To Watch Red, White & Royal Blue 2?
The first Red, White & Royal Blue movie was made available streaming on Prime Video in 2023, and that's still where you can watch the movie right now. The closest thing we have to confirmation that Red, White & Royal Blue 2 will also make its debut on the streaming platform is the Prime logo set at the bottom of the announcement poster. That seems like a pretty strong indication that the sequel will be available to watch on one of the best streaming services out there at some point.
Whether or not it will be showing in theaters before it's available streaming (or at all) is unknown.
Who's In The Red, White & Royal Blue 2 Cast?
Among the information Amazon MGM Studios released about Red, White & Royal Blue 2 was confirmation that Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine will reprise their roles as Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry, respectively.
No additional cast information has been confirmed at this point.
Undoubtedly, the rest of the returning cast members will likely depend on a combination of the story that’s planned (and which characters factor into it), and of course, the availability of the actors.
Some of the actors who appeared in the first movie are:
- Clifton Collins Jr, who played Oscar Diaz
- Sarah Shahi, who played Zahra
- Bridget Benstead, who played Princess Martha
- Thomas Flynn, who played Prince Philip
- Rachel Hilson, who played Nora
- Uma Thurman, who played Ellen Claremont
I can't imagine a RW&RB movie without their characters, so here's hoping they'll all be back. And I'll say the same about Stephen Fry, who played Henry's grandfather, King James, in the first movie. Will he be back for the sequel? It sounds like nothing is set in stone.
When speaking to Variety in June 2024, the topic of the sequel was brought up, and from the sound of it, it doesn't seem like he's been confirmed to return just yet, but he does sound hopeful that Matthew Lopez brings him back for Red, White And Royal Blue 2:
Matthew’s become a friend and he’s told me he’s doing it. I’m hoping that he hasn’t left me out. We need the king. You’ve got to have the king.
ndeed!
So it's still a bit too early to know who will be returning, but we'll be sure to share any updates we come across! In the meantime, I'm also excited to hear of any new additions to the cast as development on the second film gets moving.
What Is The Title Of the Sequel?
While Amazon teases the “2” on the announcement poster, the actual title of the movie is yet to be confirmed. And if you were thinking that they might just go with a rhyming title of Red, White & Royal 2, think again. When Casey McQuiston shared a post on their Instagram about the screening event on July 9th, their caption was “red white & royal 2 (this is not the title)”.
Ok, but what about Red, White & Royal I Do?… Kidding (...mostly).
My speculation aside, I guess we’ll continue referring to it as Red, White & Royal Blue 2 until an official title is announced.
The fact that it’s unclear what the movie will be titled brings us to the next topic, which is that there isn’t actually a sequel book for Red, White & Royal Blue to base this movie on…
What Will Red White & Royal Blue 2 Be About?
At this point plot details have not been revealed about the new movie.
Red, White & Royal Blue is a stand-alone romantic comedy novel, which was published in 2019. Casey McQuiston has not published a sequel for it, so we know absolutely nothing about what this new movie will be about, beyond the return of Alex and Henry.
(Spoiler alert if you haven’t read/seen the Red, White & Royal Blue book/movie)
In 2022, a Collectors Edition of Red, White & Royal Blue was published, which includes a bonus chapter at the end that’s told from Henry’s POV and gives us glimpses into the happily-ever-after of Alex and Henry in the years that follow the events of the book. This includes Alex and Henry living separately and then together in Brooklyn as they pursue their life and career goals. Whether or not any of the specifics mentioned in that bonus chapter factor into the planned story for the sequel is unclear. It’s entirely possible that the new movie will pick up not long after the events of the first film and go in its own direction.
Other Things We Know
That brings us to who’s writing Red, White & Royal Blue 2. While there isn’t a sequel book to base the screenplay on this time around, author Casey McQuiston will be co-writing the film’s script alongside Matthew López. So, it sounds like the sequel’s story is in very good hands.
In a conversation with Deadline in August 2024, in anticipation of the 2024 Emmy Awards, Matthew López spoke a bit about co-writing this new movie alongside Casey McQuiston, and the experience of getting to collaborate with the author this time around:
What we have is Casey’s original thoughts and original ideas. And we have a collaboration that we didn’t have on the first one, only except for me and Casey’s words. And so, that Casey’s actually in the room, now that Casey’s lifting the pen and writing — it’s been so much fun, and it feels like watching a new book be written, except it’s gonna be a screenplay instead.
Speaking of Casey McQuiston, they did an interview with W Magazine in August 2024 to discuss their new novel The Pairing, and the topic of writing the Red, White and Royal Blue sequel came up. If you’ve read the R,W&RB book, you’re likely aware that there are some key differences between the movie and Casey McQuiston’s Red, White and Royal Blue novel. With that in mind, it's interesting to hear what they had to say about writing the characters' stories for the sequel to the movie, while also factoring in elements from the book:
It’s also fun to play in a different world than the book. I see them as a version of Alex and Henry who had different circumstances that set them up on their paths toward each other, and so that’s gonna ripple along to the storytelling for them. It’s been interesting to sit down with Matthew to figure out how we bring in things from the book, while still allowing these two characters in this version of their story to find their way.
McQuiston went on to point out that their future is “wide open.”
For more context, this response came from a question that followed a discussion about comparing the central pairings in McQuiston’s books, which led to the author suggesting a hypothetical scenario where Theo and Kit from The Pairing could somehow cross paths with Alex and Henry.
From the way this discussion was phrased, I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say they’re hinting that a crossover might happen between the characters of these two otherwise unrelated books. It seems more like the possibility exists because there’s a lot of room for creativity in developing Alex and Henry’s future. (If you want the full context and/or a fan of The Pairing, be sure to check out that W Magazine interview.)
There’s a lot we still don’t know about Red, White and Royal Blue 2, like when production will start, who else will star in the film and — of course — what’s in store for Alex and Henry in the next chapter of their story. But, we’ll be keeping our eyes open and our appetites primed for wedding cake and Cornetto ice cream cones* while we wait.
*It feels greedy to make any kind of request about a sequel I still can't believe is actually happening, but since I love the deleted scene Amazon released showing Henry and Alex not-quite-bonding over Cornettos -- a book-inspired moment -- I do kind of hope the ice cream makes it into the sequel this time!
Stream Red, White & Royal Blue on Amazon Prime Video.
Amazon also has the Collector's Edition of Casey McQuiston's book available to purchase.
