‘Troop Beverly Hills’: Cameron Diaz to Produce & Star in Sequel of 1980s Comedy!!

One of the greatest camp classics of the 1980s is set to get a sequel. Following a recently concluded decade-long absence from the screen, Cameron Diaz is set to star in the follow-up to this 1989 sleeper hit, and Clea DuVall, the helmer of Happiest Season, has been tapped to direct.

According to reports, Troop Beverly Hills is getting a sequel, courtesy of DuVall and Diaz. DuVall is both writing and directing the film, duties that she performed on both of her previous feature efforts, holiday LGBT+ rom-com Happiest Season and dramedy The Intervention. Diaz, meanwhile, will star and produce. It’s the latest film from the suddenly busy Diaz, who took a break from acting after 2014’s Annie before returning in the Netflix actioner aptly titled Back in Action. This month, she’ll star alongside Keanu Reeves in the Jonah Hill-directed comedy Outcome, and will return as Princess Fiona in the upcoming animated sequel Shrek 5.

What Is ‘Troop Beverly Hills’ About?

Directed by Jeff Kanew (Revenge of the Nerds), and written by Saturday Night Live scribes Pamela Norris and Margaret Grieco Oberman, Troop Beverly Hills was loosely based on the real-life experiences of producer Ava Ostern Fries. It centers around shopaholic socialite Phyllis Nefler (Shelley Long, at the peak of her post-Cheers fame), who’s just separated from her auto-shop mogul husband, Freddy (Craig T. Nelson, Poltergeist). Looking to bond with her daughter, Hannah (future Rilo Kiley member Jenny Lewis), Phyllis signs up to lead the local troop of the Girl Scouts-substitute Wilderness Girls, despite a total lack of wilderness experience. Her unorthodox style soon brings her into conflict with rival troop leader Velda Plendor (Betty Thomas, who would later direct Long in The Brady Bunch Movie), but endears her to her own charges, including Carla Gugino and Kellie Martin. The film was not initially a success with critics or audiences, but found an audience on cable TV and VHS.

The Troop Beverly Hills sequel will be produced by Laurence Mark with Diaz and business partner Katherine Power. It is a Sony production; the studio has had great success with Diaz in the past, as she starred in The Holiday, Bad Teacher, and Charlie’s Angels, the latter of which was executive produced by original Troop Beverly Hills villain Betty Thomas.