Notting Hill is undoubtedly one of the best romantic comedies ever seen, so the idea of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant returning to play the characters from the 1999 movie sounds like a great idea in theory. However, as the movie’s writer, Richard Curtis, recently spoke to, when he pitched a sequel idea to Roberts, she was really not into it. However, given prior comments from Grant, I have a feeling Grant would have been on board.
Julia Roberts Turned Down A Notting Hill Sequel
After the classic brings together a famous Hollywood actress and a travel book store owner, fans would certainly be curious what would be next for the couple years later. However, as Curtis recently shared, his idea did not hold water with Julia Roberts. As he told IndieWire:
I tried doing one with Notting Hill where they were going to get divorced and Julia [Roberts] thought that was a very poor idea.
Richard Curtis has been behind tons of great romance movies, from Love Actually to About Time or Bridget Jones’s Diary (which is actually getting its own sequel among 2025 movies). Previously, the filmmaker did a little sequel for Love Actually in 2017 for the fundraising event Red Nose Day with Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Keira Knightley and such. As he explained, he also thought about giving Notting Hill the “mini sequel” treatment, but he just couldn’t get Julia Roberts on board.
Julia Roberts’ best movies have been romantic comedies, so one could say she has a solid opinion on what works and what doesn’t for the genre. Perhaps she thought the Notting Hill couple being involved in a divorce would take away from the fantasy the original movie brings? There is something to be said about the escapism of a rom-com that may have been betrayed by this idea, but perhaps it would have ended in the couple falling back in love?
Why Hugh Grant Probably Would Have Done The Notting Hill Sequel
While Julia Roberts shot down Richard Curtis’ Notting Hill sequel, I think Hugh Grant would have been very much into it. Back in 2020, Grant said this about doing another Notting Hill:
I would like to do a sequel to one of my own romantic comedies that shows what happened after those films ended. To really prove the terrible lie they all were, that it was a happy ending. I’d like to do me and Julia and the hideous divorce that’s ensued. With really expensive lawyers, children involved in tug of love, floods of tears. Psychologically scarred forever. I’d love to do that film.
So… in other words, this would have been the romantic comedy of Hugh Grant’s dreams. Grant said he spent so long being known as a “dreamboat,” that he’s been into doing more “character-y roles” that have challenged his former image in movies. In fact, the actor just starred in a horror movie called Heretic as a villain that we can’t stop thinking about.
While it doesn’t sound like Notting Hill is getting another movie anytime soon, you can stream the 1999 classic right now with a Peacock subscription.