“American Pie”’s Thomas Ian Nicholas Reveals Plans for 5th Movie Fell Through as Tara Reid Teases 'Really Funny' Script (Exclusive)

Both actors seemed to hold out hope that "there's interest" in another sequel

American Pie’s Thomas Ian Nicholas and Tara Reid are holding onto the distant hope that a fifth movie in the franchise might happen, despite negotiations falling through.

The two actors reunited with fellow cast members Chris Klein and Eddie Kaye Thomas at a Nov. 1 Rhode Island Comic Con panel moderated by PEOPLE’s Dory Jackson to talk about the raunchy 1999 teen comedy. During their conversation, Jackson asked whether the assembled America Pie alumni would be up for another sequel, following 2001’s American Pie 2, 2003’s American Wedding and 2012’s American Reunion.

Nicholas, 44, replied with some behind-the-scenes intel about what happened with a proposed fifth movie. The actor explained that his son, Nolan River, is following in his footsteps, appearing in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old. The 2021 horror flick was released by Universal Pictures, the same company responsible for the American Pie movies.

Related: American Pie Cast Recalls Going to 'Naughty' Strip Club with Director During Filming: 'Seems Appropriate'

Nicholas said that when he attended the New York City premiere of Old with Nolan, he ran into Universal Pictures president Peter Cramer, who told him that negotiations were underway for another American Pie film.

“This was the summer of 2021,” Nicholas said. “They were negotiating for American Pie 5. So, I was like, ‘Sweet, this is happening.’ ”

But Nicholas’ enthusiasm may have been premature.

“I texted [American Pie screenwriter] Adam Herz six months later,” he said. “I was like, ‘Hey buddy, how’s the script coming?’ He’s like, ‘Oh, we didn't come to terms on negotiation.’ So that's the last that I heard.”

Nicholas, however, seems to be holding out hope for a fifth movie. The fact that another sequel was even discussed, he said, “at least tells me that there's interest.”

“And I feel like with them now doing Happy Gilmore, we're like in the mid-'90s,” he added of the upcoming sequel to the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy. In a few years, Nicholas suggested, there might be enough late-'90s nostalgia to make an American Pie revival viable.

Related: The Cast of American Pie: Where Are They Now?

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“I think it would be really interesting to see this world, [the world of American Pie] in this world,” Thomas added. “How do you make it work now? You cannot make that movie now for so many reasons.”

Reid, however, revealed that she has an idea of how another American Pie might look in the very different atmosphere of the 2020s.

“Well, there's a lot of twists,” she said, “Which, I heard about what they wrote in the script, which I'm not going to say it, but I mean, it's really funny. It could work.”

Klein, meanwhile, said he’s completely in the dark about a fifth film. “I'm always the last to know,” he joked.