It’s time to revisit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in this follow-up to Fox Searchlight’s 2012 sleeper hit, which will be the studio’s first-ever sequel. Maggie Smith, Judi Dench (Skyfall), and Dev Patel (next year’s Chappie) are among the returnees to India’s resort for the “elderly and beautiful”, and they are joined by a number of new faces.
The sequel finds innkeeper Sonny (Patel) and his co-manager Muriel (Smith) looking to expand the Marigold into a chain, a feat complicated by Sonny’s upcoming wedding to his life-long love, Sunaina (Tina Desai). Dench and Bill Nighy reprise their roles as Evelyn and Douglas, now at a crossroads as to where their relationship is headed.
Richard Gere (the upcoming Time Out of Mind) and David Strathairn (Godzilla) are the newest guests at the inn, joined by Tamsin Greig (TV’s Episodes).
John Madden returns to direct, reuniting with screenwriter Ol Parker. The film is scheduled for a February 26, 2015 release in the UK, followed by a March 6, 2015 U.S. debut.