'Heathers' director rubbishes sequel reports

Heathers director Michael Lehmann has played down speculation that he is gearing up for a sequel to the cult black comedy.

Rumours about a follow-up were fuelled by original star Winona Ryder, who recently insisted that the project is "in the works", despite Lehmann's reluctance to discuss it.

Speaking to Moviehole, the filmmaker said: "Winona’s been talking about this for years - she brings it up every once in a while.

"[Screenwriter] Dan Waters and I will joke about it, but as far as I know there’s no script and no plans to do the sequel."

He added: "A couple [of] weeks ago everyone started talking about it and I guess Winona said the movie was gonna get made, and I thought, 'I don’t know, maybe they did this without me?'

"But I got in touch with Dan and he said he didn’t know anything about it. So I don’t think there’s any truth to it."

The 1988 movie starred Ryder as a bored teenager desperate to escape her popular school clique, who falls for the charms of unstable rebel J.D. (Christian Slater).