Richard Curtis has revealed that he wrote Notting Hill 2 and admitted that Hugh Grant avoided working with him on the ‘Meet Cute’ project in a new interview.
The screenwriter and film director, 66, said he would bring back his iconic romcom for a ten-minute special for charity.
Speaking of the brand new TV Review Podcast Have you seen?with hosts Mariel Frostrup and Peter Fincham, Richard talked about his ideas to help Comic Relief.
He explained: ‘I’ve been writing recently… I wanted to do it for Comic Relief… I wrote Notting Hill 2, which will be a 10-minute special set in a divorce lawyer’s office with Hugh and Julia about to split up, and then they both realized that they loved each other again.’
The film, starring Julia Roberts as American megastar Anna Scott and Hugh as floppy-haired bookseller William Tucker, became the highest-grossing British film of all time upon its 1999 release.
Exciting: Richard Curtis (pictured in February), 66, revealed he wrote Notting Hill 2 and admitted Hugh Grant avoided working with him on the ‘Meet Cute’ project in a new interview
Project: The screenwriter and filmmaker said he would bring his iconic romcom back, in the name of charity, for a ten-minute special (Hugh Grant pictured last month)
One day, Anna accidentally walks into William’s bookstore in London’s Notting Hill, and he later runs into her again in the street, spilling orange juice on her.
Despite the character starting a romance after their sweet introduction scene, Richard admitted that Hugh was reluctant to work with him on a new script called Meet Cute, about a man called Cute.
He explained: ‘John Cute. Meet John Sweet. Again, it was a Comic Relief thing, I had this idea of writing a sequence of 10 minute films and I spoke to Hugh Grant about it.
“Every episode would be a ‘meet Cute’ where he met someone, and then by the end of the episode they’d split up and then we’d have another ‘meet Cute.’
“And Hugh, who he is, a man who is 90% charitable, everything about him is about making the world a better place … and in the end, after consideration, he quoted me a fairly large sum of money that he would give to Comic Relief not to do that . So it never happened!’
Earlier this year, Hugh Bonneville defended Notting Hill against critics who complained about its lack of multiculturalism, saying a scene showing the area’s diversity had been cut.
The actor, 59, appeared in the film as a stockbroker who memorably told Julia’s A-list actress that most actors earn just £8,000 a year.
The film was criticized by some who thought it did not show the diversity of the area of London in which it is set, but Hugh hit back saying we should “let art be art”.
He explained: “I wanted to do it for Comic Relief… I’ve written Notting Hill 2, which will be a 10-minute special set in a divorce lawyer’s office with Hugh and Julia splitting up” (Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts pictured as William Tucker and Anna Scott in the 1999 film)
He said Independent: ‘There was a whole series about the multiculturalism of Notting Hill. But the test audience said, “Where’s the star? Where’s Julia Roberts?” So the producers cut that three-minute multicultural sequence.’
Hugh insisted that films should not be canceled just because modern audiences may not appreciate them in the same way as older viewers.
He said: “I think we all need to take a huge dose of perspective and let art be art. All forms of artistic expression should be allowed to breathe.
“I think there should always be respect – with expression comes responsibility.” But I don’t think it’s right to say, “I don’t agree with you, so you should be fired.”‘
Both Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts were nominated for Golden Globes for their performances as bookstore owner William Tucker and his celebrity girlfriend Anna.
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