Fans who have been anticipating the sequel to Terry McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale can finally breathe easy. After more than 15 years the author/screenwriter will be collaborating with director Forest Whitaker to bring her follow up novel Getting To Happy, to the big screen.

During a recent appearance on CBS’s The Talk, Angela Bassett confirmed that all the original cast members including Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon will be returning for the sequel and Whitaker will once again direct. ”[McMillan] wrote Getting to Happy and she’s written the screenplay. Forest is working on the script now, ” Bassett said.

Waiting To Exhale; the story of four African-American female friends searching for “Mr. Right”, was a significant box office success bringing in $81 million worldwide. Although the movie received mixed reviews from critics, fans considered it a groundbreaking phenomenon.

In Getting To Happy audiences will get to revisit the lives of Gloria, Bernadine, Savannah and Robin fifteen years later. According to McMillan’s website , “All four are learning to heal past hurts and to reclaim their joy and their dreams; but they return to us full of spirit, sass, and faith in one another. They’ve exhaled: now they are learning to breathe.”