Every successful comedy film seems to be immediately given a sequel these day, but it's not always easy sailing for that sequel to be as effective as the first; we're familiar with the characters by this point so setting out to put together a sequel which is just as funny, and hopefully more-so, than the original is a big challenge. NEIGHBORS was a big hit for Universal so naturally a sequel was soon announced. NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING will bring back Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, and Zac Efron to reprise their characters from the first film, and Rogen and Efron spoke with The Today Show's Dylan Dreyer about how they set out to craft a better sequel.
I think you have to make it "what's next," rather than 'what's more." We really watched movies like the Toy Story movies and movies that have great sequels and really tried to pick apart what was great about them.
Seth Rogen also elaborated a bit on where the story of NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING picks up, saying "[My and Rose Byrne's characters are] having a second baby and we're trying to sell our house so we can move to the suburbs and have more space, it starts with us being in escrow and not really understanding what that is exactly." Meanwhile, Zac Efron's character Teddy is having "a very early midlife crisis, quarter-life crisis…which is a thing now. And he comes across these girls who are forming a sorority and kind of starts to mentor them." Thus, hilarity ensues…we hope.
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING opens on May 20, 2016.