There was brief talk of anย 11 Things I Hate About Youย sequel, butย a tonally synonymous follow-up calledย 10 Things I Hate About Lifeย did get underway in 2012.ย Itย starredย Evan Rachel Woodย andย Thomas McDonnellย as two kindred spirits who meet when they’re both in the middle of trying to commit suicideโand it never came out.
But director Gil Junger, reteaming with producer Andrew Lazar, hit the ground running. “We were open, we wanted to get a fresh, young cast,” Lanzย told Vumanity, “but it just so happens, as we started meeting girls, Evan Rachel Woodโmuch like Julia Stiles didโjust so out-shined all of the other actors in terms of talent, in terms of depth and emotion, that we settled on her.”
After six screen tests to pair Wood with the right guy, “we ended up with somebody phenomenal.” Lazar called the chemistry between McDonnell and Wood “electric.” They also hadย Skylar Greyย in the Letters to Cleo role as theย cool-live-music presence.
Production, however, was halted in February 2013 when the CEO of Intandem, the U.K.-based company financing the film,ย stepped down.
Also by then, Woodย was pregnant with her son, who was born that July; the new Intandem CEOย claimedย the production was delayed because of her pregnancy but would resume in September. Instead, in June 2014, 10 Things Filmsย sued Woodย for breach of contractย and $30 million, claiming she was paid $300,000 and then “seemingly changed her mind about desiring to complete the film during principal photography, ultimately refusing without any legal justification to fulfill her contractual obligations and instead opting to walk out on the project.”
A rep for Wood called that “preposterous,” stating that Wood was ready toย resume work in November 2013, when producers promised they’dย be ready, but they “still could not get their act together.”
