Mara Brock Akil has a story. She has the cast. What she does not have is the money.
The creator and showrunner of Girlfriends confirmed on the July 2 episode of the podcast Question Everything that she is actively seeking $50 million to bring Joan, Toni, Maya and Lynn back to the screen in a feature film set in Los Angeles. The entire original cast, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jill Marie Jones, Persia White and Golden Brooks, is open to returning. The studios, however, have not matched what Akil says the project deserves.
“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. “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?”
There has been some industry interest, she noted, but nothing that has met her standard for what the film needs to be.
The Sex and the City comparison came up during the conversation, and Akil acknowledged it, pointing to the kind of event-level experience both shows inspired in their audiences. “Honey, we were fly on Girlfriends too,” she said. She did note the mixed reception to that show’s reboot as a reason she refuses to rush the project or compromise on budget.
The ask is not a new one. Over the years she’s discussed making it and as recent as May 2025, Akil made the same pitch on Sherri, joking to host Sherri Shepherd, “Do you know anybody who has $50 million?”
Girlfriends ran for eight seasons on UPN from 2000 to 2007 before an abrupt mid-season cancellation in 2008 that left the story without a proper ending, a wound fans have carried for nearly two decades. Last year marked the show’s 25th anniversary, with Ross bringing the original cast together for a Pattern Beauty commercial that sent the internet into a frenzy.
Akil, a Peabody Award winner who went on to create The Game, Being Mary Jane, Love Is and Forever, recently published her debut novel, The Revelation of Dionne Daphne. She says she is at peace with wherever the film lands.
“I really believe in God’s timing,” she said. “I can just make new things from the woman that brought you Girlfriends.“