Is Rebecca 2 happening on Netflix?

Is Rebecca 2 happening and if it does can we expect to see it on Netflix?

As soon as the remake of Rebecca dropped on Netflix fans were already wondering, “Is Rebecca 2 happening? And if there is a sequel, can we expect to see it on Netflix too?”

The better question may be, “Does Rebecca even warrant a second movie?”

If you glance at the reviews, you’d be inclined to think critics would probably balk at the notion of a Rebecca 2 happening.

Fans of the story and of the newest remake, however, might welcome another movie, but where would it go? Wasn’t everything tied up in the end?

Basically.

How Rebecca ends

The new Mrs. de Winter (Lily James) learns why the memory of the first Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca, haunts her husband, Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer). It’s not because, as she fears, that he harbors a deep and undying love for his first wife, or because he’s still mourning her sudden and tragic death.

Far from it.

Maxim hated Rebecca, who we learn was not such a very nice person. While she did appear very glamourous and likable to others, it turns out she was cold, selfish and enjoyed the company of other men. She certainly didn’t love Maxim. There’s no love lost there.

And then there’s Mrs. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas). She’s Maxim’s and Manderley’s last tie to Rebecca. When she dies, what else is left? Certainly not Manderley, since she saw to its destruction.

But there is a “who” still remaining: Rebecca’s unscrupulous cousin (who we also learn was her lover), Jack Favell (Sam Riley).

No one believes Rebecca would’ve committed suicide and she was too accomplished a sailor to have sunk her boat. Surely her husband must’ve murdered her.

The new Mrs. de Winter proves Rebecca wasn’t pregnant when she died. It turned out she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The authorities accept that could be why she took her own life, and they clear Maxim.

Favell confronts Maxim and his new bride as they leave the police station.

“I bet you think you’ve won, don’t you?” he asks. “Well, maybe the law can’t get you. I still can.”

The new Mrs. de Winter isn’t having any of his threats, though.

“Is there anything else you want to say?” she asks. “If there is, you better say it now.”

He doesn’t. Maybe he thinks of something later? Would that be enough to build a sequel off of, though?

Other Rebecca 2 storyline possibilities

No Rebecca 2 release date has been announced, but if one were, are there other storylines that could justify a Rebecca 2 happening?

Maybe. The one that makes the most sense is one that involves some sort of revenge on Jack Favell’s part.

The Netflix remake of Rebecca mimics the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock adaptation of the book, killing off Mrs. Danvers. However, “Danny,” as Favell fondly refers to her, didn’t die in the book.

In 1993, author Susan Hill published Mrs. de Winter, an attempt at a sequel to Daphne du Maurier’s masterpiece of Gothic romantic suspense. In it, it’s 10 years later. Maxim and Mrs. de Winter (who still remains a nameless character) return to England. Mrs. Danvers and Favell team up to torment them.

Sadly, it was a crummy sequel.

As an Independent book review put it (and which I couldn’t agree with more): “The peace of Manderley, they will mutter, should never have been disturbed. We only wanted to dream about going back.”

Director Ben Wheatley’s Netflix adaptation of Rebecca ends with a very decided “happily ever after” feeling.

And that is probably the best way to leave it.