Shankman to Co-Produce “Wedding Planner” Sequel With Madonna

Director Adam Shankman’s company, Offspring Entertainment, has announced plans to launch a sequel to an earlier Shankman hit, the “The Wedding Planner,” with entertainment legend Madonna as co-producer.

The original “The Wedding Planner” debuted at No. 1 the weekend it was released, making its star Jennifer Lopez the first actress and singer to have a film (The Wedding Planner) and an album (J. Lo) at number one in the same week. The movie was released on January 26, 2001 with $13,510,293 on its first weekend. It grossed $60,400,856 domestically. Worldwide tally was $94,728,529.

“We’ve been asked about this over and over again, and it’s finally time to do it,” said Shankman’s production partner, Jennifer Gibgot. Shankman and producing partner Gibgot recently renewed their overall deal with Walt Disney Studios for Offspring Entertainment and have many films in development, including John Grisham’s “Playing for Pizza.”
To date, Shankman's films have grossed over a half-billion dollars. His next film to open, “Bedtime Stories,” premieres on Christmas Day. In “Bedtime Stories,” Sandler plays Skeeter Bronson, a goofy hotel handyman whose life is changed forever when the lavish bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to mysteriously come true. He attempts to take advantage of the phenomenon, incorporating his own aspirations into one outlandish tale after another, but it's the kids' unexpected contributions that turn Skeeter's life upside down.

In the original “The Wedding Planner,” starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, Lopez plays a San Francisco wedding planner, Maria 'Mary' Fiore, who is too consumed with planning others' events to worry about her own personal life until she is saved from a nasty accident by Dr. Steve Edison (McConaughey).

Mary and Steve spend a wonderful evening in the park, watching an old movie (Two Tickets To Broadway), dancing and nearly kissing before being interrupted by an untimely rain shower. After glowing to her friends that she had finally found a man that she likes, she soon learns that Edison is engaged to her biggest client Fran Donolly (Wilson).

After the revelation, Mary is reunited with a childhood friend Massimo (Chambers) who asks her to marry him; after a slight hesitation, Fiore uses a Scrabble board to spell "OK". Mary reaches the altar with Massimo, but their wedding is halted by her father who knows she is not truly in love with the groom-to-be. Meanwhile, Fran and Steve's wedding fails (due to their own doubts about marriage) and Steve rushes to city hall to try to stop Mary and Massimo's wedding himself. With help from Massimo, Steve finds Mary and asks her to dance at the park where they first met and fell in love.

Shankman, one of the most loved and commercially successful filmmakers of his generation, is currently in pre-production on Bedtime Stories, which he will direct and executive produce through his Offspring Entertainment banner for Walt Disney Studios, with Adam Sandler starring. Shankman also has an Untitled Project in the works through Offspring, with Hairspray star Zac Efron set to star. He is also producing, through Offspring, 'All Of Me,' starring Queen Latifah and based upon the 1984 film starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin.

Most recently, Shankman produced the Sandra Bullock film, 'Premonition,' as well as 'Step Up' for Walt Disney Studios. 'Step Up,' directed by his co-choreographer Anne Fletcher, garnered critical acclaim and grossed over $100 million at the box office.

Shankman began crafting an enviable career with his directorial debut, Columbia Pictures' 'The Wedding Planner.' The Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey film was the heart-felt hit of 2001. Shankman's following grew with his next film 'A Walk to Remember,' distributed by Warner Bros., starring Mandy Moore and Shane West., nominated for a 2002 Phoenix Film Critics Award for Best Live Action Family Film.

Shankman followed this up with 'Bringing Down the House,' a Walt Disney comedy starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah which was number one at the box office for three weeks in a row, grossing over $130 million; and 'The Pacifier,' starring Vin Diesel.