Future Prospects for Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Franchise Revealed
By & Published Apr 15, 2026, 1:11 PM EDT follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
director Ken Kwapis just revealed whether another film in the franchise will ever be made and whether the potential threequel would stay faithful to the books.
The first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants film, which adapted Ann Brashares' 2001 novel, was released in 2005, and a sequel followed three years later. A third installment based on Sisterhood Everlasting was reportedly in development 12 years ago, but nothing official was ever announced by the studio.
Now, Kwapis is revealing where the project currently stands. In an interview with ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns for Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair, the director admitted plans are "a little bit not happening right now" because the four lead stars—America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel—are "so busy" after their careers "have blown up."
Kwapis would love to "reconnect with those four actors and go another round with it." While there are no plans at the moment, he's "hopeful" that will get made eventually.
"I will say last year was the 20th anniversary of the release of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I am so gratified that it still resonates, continues to resonate with women, younger and older viewers. At the moment, the plans for a third film are a little bit not happening. I think it's partly because the four cast members have blown up and are so busy, but I would love nothing more than to reconnect with those four actors and go another round with it. But I'm hopeful."
The first film, which centers on a friend group that bonds over a pair of pants that magically fit all of them equally, is based on Brashares' first novel in her young adult series, while the 2008 sequel adapts Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood, which is the fourth book. The author wrote three other novels in the series, including The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood, and Sisterhood Everlasting.
However, if , Kwapis doesn't see the creative team leaning on Brashares' existing work. Instead, "it would have to be a new story" because the actors are now older than their characters from the books.
He envisions a scenario in which audiences get to see Carmen Lowell, Bridget Vreeland, Tibby Tomko-Rollins, and Lena Kaligaris as "potential parents," similar to what he did with the recent Malcolm in the Middle revival, which saw the titular character as an adult with a daughter and a girlfriend.
"I feel like it requires a script that's not part of the original series," Kwapis explained. "But again, those characters are so beloved. Hopefully, we can pull it off."
"It would have to be a new story, just because the four actors are older than the four characters in the final books in the series. But that's great, too. I mean, it'd be wonderful to catch up with those four characters again, the same way with the Malcolm revival, to see them as potential parents. I feel like it requires a script that's not part of the original series, but again, those characters are so beloved. Hopefully, we can pull it off."
As Kwapis indicated, the have become huge stars since they first appeared in the franchise.
by that point and then went on to projects like How to Train Your Dragon, Barbie, and Superstore. Her role as Gloria in Barbie, which includes a memorable and iconic speech from her, earned Ferrera her first Oscar nomination.
when The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was released, having starred as Rory Gilmore on the popular series Gilmore Girls. Years later, she reprised the role for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and then joined the cast of The Handmaid's Tale.
Lively, meanwhile, has gone on to star in A Simple Favor, The Shallows, It Ends with Us, and Another Simple Favor, among many other films, while Tamblyn appeared in Django Unchained, House, Two and a Half Men, and Y: The Last Man.
While Warner Bros. hasn't officially announced they're developing The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 3, Kwapis' latest update is a hopeful sign that the filmmaker is excited to dive back into this world all these years later if the studio gives him the opportunity.
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