Jean Smart is joining “The Families Stone,” the upcoming sequel to the 2005 holiday comedy-drama “The Family Stone.” The new movie will reunite much of the original cast, but it will also introduce Smart as a woman who could dramatically change the Stone family’s Christmas gathering.
Searchlight Pictures is moving ahead with the sequel more than 20 years after the original film reached theaters. The follow-up will again center on the Stone family, a close but complicated group whose Christmas gatherings can quickly become uncomfortable.
This time, the surprise comes from the family’s father.
According to Variety, Smart will play the new love interest of Kelly Stone, played again by Craig T. Nelson. The official story says the Stone family reunites for Christmas 20 years after the death of their mother, only to learn that Kelly has invited the woman he has fallen in love with to meet everyone.
That setup gives the sequel an immediate link to the emotional center of the first movie. Diane Keaton played family matriarch Sybil Stone in the 2005 film. Keaton died in 2025, making the new story especially meaningful for the returning cast and filmmakers.
Writer and director Tom Bezucha is returning for the sequel. He also wrote and directed the original movie.
The new film is officially titled “The Families Stone,” a small change from the original title that suggests the story may focus on how the characters and their relationships have expanded over two decades. Searchlight announced the title and returning cast earlier this month.
Most of the main actors from the first film are coming back.
Sarah Jessica Parker will return as Meredith Morton. Rachel McAdams will again play Amy Stone, while Claire Danes returns as Julie Morton. Dermot Mulroney is back as Everett Stone, and Luke Wilson will again play Ben Stone.
Craig T. Nelson returns as Kelly Stone, whose new relationship will be a major part of the story. Elizabeth Reaser is returning as Susannah Stone, Tyrone Giordano as Thad Stone, Paul Schneider as Brad Stevenson and Brian White as Patrick Thomas.
ABC News reported that Searchlight formally announced the sequel with a social media post showing photos of the returning cast arranged like a Christmas tree. The studio used the message “The Families Stone. Coming Soon,” but it has not announced a release date.
Production is expected to begin in New York this fall.
The original “The Family Stone” was released in December 2005. It followed Meredith, a tightly controlled businesswoman who travels with her boyfriend Everett to spend Christmas with his large family.
Meredith has trouble fitting in almost immediately. Her personality clashes with several members of the Stone family, especially Everett’s sister Amy. The situation becomes more complicated when Meredith asks her sister Julie to join her for support.
Relationships shift as the holiday continues.
Everett begins to question whether Meredith is the woman he wants to marry. Meredith becomes closer to Everett’s brother Ben, while Everett develops feelings for Julie. The movie mixes romantic comedy with family conflict and a much more serious storyline involving Sybil’s health.
The film ended with the family gathering again at Christmas after Sybil’s death. Her absence remained at the center of the final scene, giving the movie an emotional ending that separated it from many lighter holiday comedies.
That history appears likely to matter in the sequel.
The official description places the new movie two decades after Sybil’s death rather than simply bringing the same characters back for another Christmas. Kelly’s decision to introduce a new partner creates a situation that could force the family to deal with grief, loyalty and the reality of moving forward after a major loss.
Smart is a strong addition to that setup because she has spent much of her career moving between comedy and drama. She is widely known today for playing comedian Deborah Vance on the HBO series “Hacks,” a role that has brought her multiple Emmy Awards.
Her earlier television work includes “Designing Women,” “Frasier,” “24” and “Samantha Who?” She has also appeared in films including “Babylon” and “A Simple Favor.”
TheWrap reported that Smart has joined the film as principal photography prepares to begin in New York. The report also confirmed the large group of original cast members returning for the project.
The sequel has been developing for some time.
Entertainment Weekly reported in May that Mulroney had read the script and said the returning actors were interested in coming back. He also spoke about how Keaton’s death changed the emotional weight of the project.
Bezucha had already been working on the story before Keaton died. He later said that writing the sequel had caused him to spend time mentally returning to the Stone family home and thinking about Sybil’s absence.
That makes “The Families Stone” unusual among long-delayed sequels. The story is not simply bringing back familiar characters at the same stage of life. More than two decades have passed in both the real world and the fictional family.
The younger characters from the first movie are now older. Relationships that were new in 2005 have had years to change. Children may have grown up, marriages may have changed, and old family tensions could look very different after so much time.
Searchlight has not revealed those details yet.
The studio also has not said how large Smart’s role will be or how the Stone children will react to Kelly’s relationship. The official description makes clear, however, that her arrival at Christmas will be the event that brings the family’s emotions to the surface.
There is also no confirmed release date. With filming planned for this fall, the movie is still in an early stage of production.
For fans of the original, the returning cast may be the biggest attraction. Parker, McAdams, Danes, Mulroney, Wilson and Nelson all became closely associated with the movie’s mix of sharp family arguments, awkward comedy and emotional moments.
The sequel will have to recreate that chemistry without Keaton, whose character was the center of the Stone household.
Smart’s character could provide a natural way to address that absence without trying to replace Sybil. Kelly’s new relationship creates a different family problem, one based on whether the people who loved Sybil can accept that life has continued.
That gives “The Families Stone” a story that fits the passage of time.
More casting announcements and a release date are likely to come as production moves forward. For now, Searchlight has confirmed a large reunion, a new title and Jean Smart as the woman arriving at Christmas with the potential to change the Stone family again.