UPDATED: Netflix has pulled the plug on Nancy Meyers‘ next movie, a star-studded romantic comedy that would have marked the director’s first film in years, over budget concerns.
But don’t cry into your cashmere sweater just yet: sources with knowledge of the project said the filmmaker is looking into other options to make the movie.
Prior to the film, reportedly titled “Paris Paramount,” being shelved, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Owen Wilson and Michael Fassbender were being courted for lead roles. Pending talent availability, the project will be shopped to prospective buyers as a package, one source added.
Representatives for Meyers did not respond to Variety’s request for comment.
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Netflix announced the rom-com in April 2022 and greenlit with a price tag well over $100 million, a source confirmed to Variety. Industry newsletter Puck reported that Meyers wanted $150 million to produce the film, but Netflix wouldn’t go over $130 million. It’s not clear how much of the budget would’ve been devoted to designing an immaculate kitchen, a staple in the Nancy Meyers Cinematic Universe.
Netflix also declined to comment.
Meyers was set to write, direct and produce the semi-autobiographical story about Hollywood exes who end up working together. Meyers was married to director Charles Shyer, with whom she had two children, for nearly 20 years. As a couple, they worked on several award-winning comedies, such as “Private Benjamin,” “Baby Boom” and “Father of the Bride.”
After winning a screenwriting Oscar for “Private Benjamin,” Meyers made her directorial debut with 1998’s “The Parent Trap,” starring two Lindsay Lohans. A proven box office draw, Meyers is the creative mind behind contemporary rom-com classics like “The Holiday,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” “It’s Complicated” and “What Women Want.”
Meyers hasn’t returned behind the camera since 2015’s heartfelt workplace dramedy “The Intern” with Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro, which grossed $135 million globally on a $35 million budget. She did, however, produce 2017’s “Home Again,” which was written and directed by her daughter Hailie Meyers-Shyer.
