If you’re not ready to say goodbye to Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and Tessa (Josephine Langford) just yet, don’t worry, you won’t have to — well beyond “After Ever Happy”‘s upcoming release. Tiffin just revealed in an August Instagram video that a fifth film is coming. Fans had previously thought the fourth film, out Sept. 7, was Tiffin and Langford’s final contributions to the saga.
Said Tiffin, “We have just wrapped filming on the fifth after movie. I can’t tell you too much about it yet but I can tell you that it will be called ‘After Everything,’ and I cannot wait for you all to see it.”
Of course, there were already even more “After” movies in the works. Back in April 2021, director Castille Landon exclusively confirmed to Teen Vogue that the “After” franchise would be getting even bigger with two more films on the way, a prequel and a next-generation sequel. “The ‘After’ universe just keeps expanding,” Landon said. Landon will remain onboard as both writer and director for the next-gen sequel and prequel after working on “After We Fell” and “After Ever Happy.” “The fandom, and how excited they are and their input, it really does inspire us all as creators every single day.”
The prequel will loosely follow the “After” series book “Before,” which is written by Anna Todd from Hardin’s point of view. “He’s gone through a lot of trauma in his family life and in his relationships, and [we’ll] see more of that messiness before he meets Tessa, and how that experience changes him,” Landon explained. Since the prequel will focus on a younger Hardin, Tiffin will not be playing the character in the film, though Landon didn’t reveal who will be taking his place.
The next-generation sequel, on the other hand, will center on Tessa and Hardin’s children Emery and Auden, as well as their cousin Addy, who are featured in Todd’s “After Ever Happy.” Tiffin and Langford will not be reprising their roles for the sequel either, and it’s unclear if this newly-announced fifth film — “After Everything” — will simply tee up the next-gen story. “Emery, Auden, and Addy are quite beloved by the fans. We’ve all gotten a lot of inquiries about what happens with the kids,” Landon said last year. “It’s really amazing actually to see how interested the fanbase is in those characters, even though they are really only superficially introduced in the books. People have latched onto them because of their love for Hardin and Tessa.”
While there isn’t a lot of material to source from for the next-gen installment, Landon assured fans that the movie will “stay truthful” to the franchise. “We kind of carry the sins of our parents forward with us, so while they’re trying to break out of that, I think carrying that forward for the kids is really important,” she said. “[We’re] exploring a lot of the same themes, love and loss, and messy relationships. We’ve all been there, and those are universal themes. Making sure these characters are dynamic and not pulling punches is really important, just as it’s important with Hardin and Tessa. And exploring young love without judging it.”
Both the prequel and sequel are still in their early stages, so no casting news nor release dates have been announced yet. And we’ll stay tuned for more info on “After Everything” as “After Ever Happy” hits theaters.