The rom-com formula has been deconstructed, mocked, whatever for so many years, maybe it’s time to just go back to basics? That’s what Universal is hoping fans want to see out of Marry Me, which stars Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson in what looks like the kind of romantic comedy that used to be consistent blockbusters, often with Lopez fronting them.
Directed by Kat Coiro, Marry Me stars Lopez as a pop star who discovers her fiance was cheating on her moments before they are to be married in front of millions of her adoring fans. So what is she to do in such an awkward situation? Pick a random dude out of the crowd and marry him, instead. Good thing he turns out to be a sweet ol’ divorced Dad and not a serial killer who stalks pop stars. Sortof a crapshoot.
The film is based on a book by Bobby Crosby. Coiro is best known for her television work and the indie films And While We Were Here and A Case of You. She’s also set to direct Marvel’s She-Hulk series. Lopez is no stranger to this genre, but this will mark her first since 2018’s Second Act.
Marry Me opens Valentine’s Day 2022.
Kat Valdez (Lopez) is half of the sexiest celebrity power couple on Earth with hot new music supernova Bastian (Maluma, making his feature-film debut). As Kat and Bastian’s inescapable hit single, “Marry Me,” climbs the charts, they are about to be wed before an audience of their fans in a ceremony that will be streamed across multiple platforms. Divorced high-school math teacher Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) has been dragged to the concert by his daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman, Big Little Lies) and his best friend (Sarah Silverman). When Kat learns, seconds before the ceremony, that Bastian has cheated on her with her assistant, her life turns left as she has a meltdown on stage, questioning love, truth and loyalty. As her gossamer world falls away, she locks eyes with a stranger—a face in the crowd. If what you know lets you down, then perhaps what you don’t know is the answer, and so, in a moment of inspired insanity, Kat chooses to marry Charlie. What begins as an impulsive reaction evolves into an unexpected romance. But as forces conspire to separate them, the universal question arises: Can two people from such different worlds bridge the gulf between them and build a place where they both belong?
