Principal photography has begun in New York on Marc Lawrence’s yet untitled romantic comedy, starring Hugh Grant, Marisa Tomei, Bella Heathcote, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons and Chris Elliott.
The film centers on a “witty, sexy Englishman in Hollywood” (Grant — who else?) who is now past his prime and takes a job teaching screenwriting on the East Coast. He finds romance with a single mom (Tomei), while Simmons and Elliott will play a university English department chair and Shakespeare professor, respectively.
It’s been a few years since we’ve seen Grant in his rom-com wheelhouse. 2009’s terrible “Did You Hear About the Morgans,” co-starring Sarah Jessica Parker, was his last foray into the genre. The Wachowskis had fun disguising the Brit actor in myriad ways in last year’s “Cloud Atlas,” though that didn’t aid the film’s performance at the domestic box office. With this new romantic comedy, and rumors of “Bridget Jones’ Baby” on the way, Grant is returning to familiar territory.
Lawrence is best known for penning the hugely successful “Miss Congeniality” films in the early 2000s, and has worked with Grant twice before, directing him in “Two Weeks Notice” and “Music and Lyrics.”
Castle Rock Entertainment is producing.
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