Hayley Atwell Leads ’10 Things I Hate About You’ Sequel

Setting aside the news of Hayley Atwell's casting, the more important thing to note here is that there is evidently a sequel to '10 Things I Hate About You' in the works. But it's not exactly what you'd expect.

Gil Junger, writer and director of '10 Things I Hate About You,' spoke to Variety recently about '10 Things I Hate About Life,' his sequel to the 1999 teen rom-com starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik (can we get a shout from our 'Alex Mack' fans?)

Junger says the inspiration came from, "coming across a man who had committed suicide at a scenic overlook." A reminder: '10 Things I Hate About You' was a witty comedy based on William Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew,' about Bianca, a teen who can't go on dates until her tempestuous sister Kat starts dating. From this, Junger apparently decided that suicide would be a hilarious follow-up.

Junger explains:

“It is the story of two relatable, ordinary people with normal jobs and normal desires whose seemingly great lives have become unmanageable,” he said. “Two people who go to the same place at the same time to end it. … Their chance meeting is so awkward, so raw, and so funny, they postpone their intentions and go their separate ways.”

Hayley Atwell ('Captain America: The First Avenger') has signed on for a lead in this bizarre sequel, which Junger says "advances the situations from the original film," whatever that means. There's been no confirmation that Atwell will be playing the role of either Stratford sister from the original film, so as far as we know this is a sequel in spirit only.