Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising brings back most of the main gang from the original Neighbors, including writer-director Nicholas Stoller and co-writer/star Seth Rogen, as well as co-leads Rose Byrne and Zac Efron. The new movie is set for a late May 2016 theatrical release, and will see the introduction of a new sorority led by franchise newcomer Chloë Grace Moritz – one bent on wreaking havoc on Rogen and Byrne’s young parents, much like Efron’s onetime frat boy did before them.
An official trailer for Neighbors 2 has now dropped online, courtesy of Universal Pictures. The footage shows off Rogen and company’s latest sophomoric romp, replete with similar gags, cheesy one-liners, and sexual innuendo that made the first film such a fun and unexpected hit with general audiences. By trading in the testosterone fueled bad behavior from the first Neighbors with plenty of unrestricted estrogen, this new installment could prove to be just as irreverent in tone as its predecessor was two years ago.
If there is anything to be concerned about the Neighbors 2 as it currently stands, it would have to be the lack of original material on display throughout the first trailer. Rogen, Byrne, and Efron all appear ready to make another go of it in their respective roles, but more often than not the comedy that ensues appears to be recycled wholesale from the first Neighbors installment.
Then again, perhaps there is nothing to worry about, and Neighbors 2 might yet rival the immature antics so wonderfully established in Stoller’s first film in the series, and fans of the franchise will have more scenes and one-liners to reference ad nausea within the year to come. Much of what made the first film thematically resonant came in the picture’s ultimate message of casting aside such juvenile behavior in favor of growing up and accepting the responsibility that comes with graduation from college, and subsequently marriage and parenthood.
Either way, Neighbors 2 should be fun, and the first trailer looks to be just as off the wall crazy as the first film – something that should come as welcome new to those who loved the first installment in this franchise.
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising will open in U.S. theaters on May 20th, 2016.
