Josie And The Pussycats star Rachael Leigh Cook has shut down speculation of a sequel, 25 years after its release.
Based on the Archie Comics series of the same name, the film stars Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson as the titular band who become a huge success, though quickly find themselves fighting back against a conspiracy to use their music to deliver subliminal messages.
While the musical comedy was a box office flop at the time of its debut, it has since gained a cult following, spurring on talk of a follow-up.
However, when pressed on a potential second film, Cook told People: “I don’t think I would need to touch it myself. I’m proud of what we made. Maybe if they did some time traveling, maybe there’s something that could be weird and interesting.”
“I do not think that there’s any talk of anything like that,” she added. “It took long enough for people to get it the first time. We’re not gonna push our luck, I don’t think.”
During the interview, the star also addressed the film’s newfound cult status, noting: “People are rediscovering that movie after it being considered an absolute box-office flop and only getting its flowers as it were in the last couple of years, maybe the last decade or so.”
Cook admitted that it “feels awesome”, also joking that it is “better late than never” and that she is “grateful for it”.
“It’s easy to make a movie that just sort of falls into the abyss,” she continued. “I’ve certainly made a lot of those, and I’m not saying they all deserve the Josie resurrection and treatment, but I’m just glad that this very deserving movie ultimately found an audience.”
Directed and written by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, the film features supporting turns from The Traitors U.S.‘s Alan Cumming, Ma‘s Missi Pyle, The White Lotus‘ Parker Posey, Scrubs‘ Donald Faison, Revenge‘s Gabriel Mann and Family Guy‘s Seth Green.