When Columbia Pictures bought the film rights to "Annie", it included the rights to make sequels. Despite the poor commercial performance of the original film in relation to its high budget, producer
Ray Stark still kept the idea of making a sequel alive. It was on and off Columbia's production slate for several years until TriStar Television, noting the original film's popularity with children on home video, agreed to make it as a made-for-TV movie, to be released simultaneously on home video.
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