Mara Brock Akil, the creator and showrunner of Girlfriends, says she would need a $50 million budget for a movie version of the beloved sitcom.
The veteran screenwriter, who recently released her debut novel The Revelation of Dionne Daphne, discussed the potential film’s budget on the Thursday (July 2) episode of the Question Everything podcast.
“I need the money that I need and if it’s not going to be there, I can’t keep knocking on every door,” Akil said around the 40-minute mark of the interview. “I have to sort of move on. But when that money comes, or a new idea comes for a lesser amount, if I can’t do it right, why am I doing it?”
While Akil has a storyline ready to reunite Girlfriends characters Joan, Toni, Lynn, and Maya, she says her focus is on making it “right.”
“And so right now I’m looking for $50 million to tell the story that I’d like to tell, set in Los Angeles, for the entire cast to come back,” she continued. “They want to come back. They’re open to it. But we all want the right value.”
Starring Tracee Ellis Ross, Jill Marie Jones, Persia White, and Golden Brooks, Girlfriends originally ran for eight seasons from 2000 to 2007.
The main cast reunited last year for a Pattern Beauty commercial led by Tracee Ellis Ross, while six years prior, Jones, White, and Brooks appeared together on an episode of Black-ish, which Ross starred in as Dr. Rainbow Johnson.
After Girlfriends, Akil went on to create The Game, Being Mary Jane, Love Is, and Forever.
