Justin Kirk Doubts Anyone Wants ‘Weeds’ Reboot: They’re ‘Trying to Drag Its Tired Carcass Out’

Ethan Shanfeld
·3 min read
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It’s been nearly four years since we learned that a “Weeds” sequel series was in the works. When Variety exclusively broke the news of the revival in 2019, which was then at Starz, Mary-Louise Parker was set to executive produce and reprise her role as Nancy Botwin in the potential new series. But Justin Kirk, who played her charming and unfiltered brother-in-law Andy Botwin, isn’t so sure about it.

“Even as a fan, do you really want to see us all old and coming back? By the time of Season 8, I don’t think the general idea was, ‘We should keep doing this!'” he told Variety. “Look, I love those people, I love that character. I probably know as much as you do about any future reboots.”

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In Variety‘s original report, the logline for the new “Weeds” was: “The new show picks up with the Botwin family 10 years after the events of the original series in an era of legalization.” Lionsgate Television was set to return as producer, but “Weeds” creator Jenji Kohan wasn’t currently attached to the reboot in development.

“I know they were talking about it, about what it could possibly be,” Kirk said. “I had heard rumors of various iterations. Once, I heard about it being a prequel with younger characters, and then you just see us in flash forwards. So I have no idea. Although weirdly enough, I did recently hear of it again, so they may be trying to drag its tired carcass out.”

Nevertheless, just minutes after this article’s publication, Deadline reported that the potential “Weeds” follow-up has moved to Showtime, the original series’ network. Lionsgate declined to comment for that story.

But despite Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer confirming in 2019 that a project called “Weeds 4.20” with Mary-Louise Parker is “in active development,” Kirk isn’t confident the series will actually get made, or that he would return if it does.

“There are a million things that are claimed to be in some sort of development,” Kirk said. “My agents haven’t mentioned it to me in a long time. Maybe they’re going to recast [Andy].”

Kirk added of whether he would reprise the role of Andy Botwin, “That is a $64,000 question. I guess we’d have to see what it was. My very favorite piece of narrative entertainment is ‘Twin Peaks: The Return.’ There is something exciting about seeing the people from something you were into however much older. There’s something cool about that. There’s got to be a story to tell, or some reason to do it. So we’ll see.”

Reached by Variety, Lionsgate Television declined to comment.

Kirk sat down with Variety to discuss Season 4, Episode 8 of HBO’s “Succession,” in which he plays the far-right presidential candidate Jeryd Mencken. He is set to return in Episode 9 of the series, which is preparing to take its final bow on May 28.

Kirk played Andy Botwin on all eight seasons of “Weeds,” which ran on Showtime from 2005 to 2012. The series was met with critical acclaim upon its debut, eventually racking up 20 Emmy nominations over the course of its run, including best comedy series in 2009. The show also starred Hunter Parrish, Alexander Gould, Kevin Nealon, Elizabeth Perkins, Andy Milder, Allie Grant, Tonye Patano and Romany Malco.

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