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PEOPLE & ARTS Friday 15 June 2018
Once sidelined, romantic comedies rise again this summer

By LINDSEY BAHR and Ethan Hawke, comes
Associated Press out Aug. 17, followed by
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sum- "Destination Wedding ,"
mer is always full of action which boasts a '90s dream
and superhero pics, but cast in Winona Ryder and
this year a once dormant Keanu Reeves who star as
yet utterly adored genre is single wedding guests.
coming back in a big way: "It's a dark comedy," said
the romantic comedy. Af- "Destination Wedding" pro-
ter a 2017 without any from ducer Gail Lyon. "They're
a major studio, this summer playing the idea of two
is proving to be a re-birth broken people who have
for this lost Hollywood sta- had the (expletive) kicked
ple with five notable releas- out of them in the love de-
es, including "Crazy Rich partment. Can they really
Asians " and a "Mamma find enough hope to find
Mia! " sequel. something or is cynicism
The reasons for the genre's going to rule the day? It's
decline are many. A post- really funny and really hon-
recession focus on interna- est about finding love later
tional audiences, franchis- in life."
es and superheroes have Lyon, who also produced
helped to push rom-coms "Win a Date with Tad
off the priority list for stu- Hamilton!," knows that the
dios. Also, after a long and This image released by Netflix shows Zoey Deutch, left, and Glen Powell in a scene from "Set It Up," movie business is cyclical,
fruitful run in the late '80s premiering June 15 on Netflix. but thinks that rom-coms
through the 2000s, enthusi- Associated Press needed to get back to the
asm started to wane. They basics — character and di-
had become stale. There forward movement. Earlier and smart." It's not just streaming plat- alogue — while also "twist-
were a few outliers, of in the year there was Para- The script got the attention forms re-embracing the ing the paradigm a little bit
course, like Amy Schumer's mount's "Book Club" and of Hollywood with a spot genre — the big studios are to keep it fresh," which she
"Trainwreck," but the big its focus on older women, on the coveted Black List too. Universal has "Mamma says "Destination Wedding"
studio rom-coms became 20th Century Fox's "Love, in 2015, a survey of the in- Mia! Here We Go Again" (Aug. 24) does.
derivative, lazy and dull. Simon's" gay, teen pro- dustry's best unproduced coming July 20, with many If 2018 is the start of a new
"They didn't reflect the way tagonist, and the bilingual screenplays. It was picked of the original cast as well era of the romantic com-
that society was changing. "Overboard," which has be- up by MGM and even had as Cher and Andy Garcia. edy, Carlson thinks that
They were all about white, come the highest-grossing "Game of Thrones'" Emilia And Warner Bros. is releas- one day we may trace it
straight couples. They fell film for Pantelion Films. Clarke to star, but it started ing the adaptation of Kevin back to "The Big Sick." She
back on the conventions "Set It Up ," a Netflix release to fall apart when the stu- Kwan's popular novel "Cra- compares it to how "Moon-
that define the genre," said out Friday, is perhaps the dio wavered and Clarke zy Rich Asians" on Aug. 15. struck," which won three
Erin Carlson, author of the most throw-back of all the had to go back to shoot Nina Jacobson, who pro- Oscars in 1988, helped get
book "I'll Have What She's upcoming films. It is about her television show. The duced "Crazy Rich Asians," the genre out of the cyni-
Having: How Nora Ephron's people with actual jobs team, including Powell, saw an opportunity in the cal "Annie Hall" phase and
Three Iconic Films Saved the that consume their lives in- was undeterred. story about a Chinese pave the way for "When
Romantic Comedy" and an stead of playing a glamor- "We met with a lot of peo- American woman who Harry Met Sally" and all the
upcoming book about the ous backdrop to whatever ple who really liked the travels to Singapore to classics that hit spawned.
films of Meryl Streep. "Peo- romantic exploits the movie script but so many people meet her boyfriend's par- "People have written the
ple just got tired of them." dictates. Zoey Deutch and would say, 'oh it's not right ents to take audiences to romantic comedy's obitu-
A death, of sorts, was nec- Glen Powell star as assis- for our platform,' or 'it's not a world they haven't seen ary over and over and over
essary for the genre to rise tants who decide to set up right for our slate,'" said "Set in a mainstream American again," Carlson said. "But
again with a new set of their miserable and difficult It Up" director Claire Scan- movie, and also touch on the genre will always sur-
voices. It didn't hurt that bosses, played by Lucy Liu lon. "There were so many universal themes. vive as long as it's pushed
"The Big Sick" made a splash and Taye Diggs. rules for people who were "So many (romantic com- forward in ways that reflect
at the box office and went It was dreamt up by Juliet picking up films and if it edies) became so formu- contemporary society.
on to get a screenwriting Berman, the head of devel- didn't fit perfectly with ex- laic," Jacobson said. "But And it will also survive as
Oscar nomination — the opment for Treehouse Pic- actly what they had com- it is a genre that has been long as love and relation-
kind of prestigious recogni- tures, and screenwriter Ka- ing out, then they didn't historically beloved and ships elude and fascinate
tion rarely afforded to clas- tie Silberman, both ardent want to do it." successful and this felt like a us — that is, it will never go
sic rom-coms that don't rom-com fans who met as That all changed in a meet- great way to re-approach away."q
have a "Silver Linings Play- assistants in Los Angeles. ing with Netflix, when exec- it."
book" edge. "I grew up at a time when utive Matt Brodlie agreed The independent realm,
"('The Big Sick') showed that rom-coms didn't have a to make it in the room — which has been keeping
people still want a good negative connotation, he said yes in January and rom-coms alive for some
rom-com at the multiplex, they were just my favorite they were shooting by May. time, also has a few bound-
but they want one that movies," Silberman said. "I Netflix has also released a ary-pushing releases on
pushes the genre forward wanted for a long time to few other romantic com- the schedule, both about
in new, interesting ways try to write something that edies this year including people in their early mid-
that reflect real life today, would make audiences "Ibiza," ''When We First Met" dle age finding love. The
not tired tropes of yester- feel the way the movies I and "The Kissing Booth." Sundance charmer "Juliet,
day," Carlson said. loved growing up made And, likewise, Amazon was Naked," based on the Nick
And indeed, the rom-coms me feel. They're fun and the shop that took a gam- Hornby novel and starring
of 2018 are continuing that kind and warm and nice ble acquiring "The Big Sick." Rose Byrne, Chris O'Dowd