‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?': Lily James, Emma Thompson, And Shazad Latif To Star In Rom-Com
Hot off her starring role as the second Mrs. de Winter in Netflix’s recent remake ofRebecca,Lily Jamesis lining up a new movie project.
James is set to co-star withEmma Thompson(Late Night,Last Christmas) andShazad Latif(Star Trek: Discovery) in a new romantic comedy from Working Title calledWhat’s Love Got to Do With It?Here’s what we know so far.
According to a report from Deadline,Jemima Khan(Impeachment: American Crime Story) is writing and producing the new rom-com, which will be directed byShekhar Kapur, who helmed 1998’sElizabethand 2007’sElizabeth: The Golden Age. Plot details are still being kept close to the vest, butWhat’s Love Got to Do With It?is being described as a “cross-cultural rom-com” about love and marriage, and it’s apparently set between London and South Asia. One assumes that Latif’s character will be falling for James’s, but there’s no confirmation about that and no word yet about who Thompson will be playing. (Maybe James’s mother?)
James is well known for her roles inBaby Driver,Cinderella,Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, andDownton Abbey, but Latif has not quite reached her level of fame. Still, you’ve almost certainly seen his work: he has credits on a wide-ranging amount of projects includingMI-5,Black Mirror,The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,Penny Dreadful,The Commuter,The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, andStar Trek: Discovery. Thompson, of course, is two-time Oscar winning writer and actress who has appeared inSense and Sensibility,Love Actually, and multipleHarry Pottermovies.
It’s unclear if the Tina Turner song is going to factor into the movie’s soundtrack, or if it just inspired this title.
Studiocanal is set to fully finance the movie, which will be produced by writer Jemima Khan,Nicky Kentish Barnes(About A Boy), and Working Title’sEric FellnerandTim Bevan. Khan has produced a handful of things in the past, including last year’s HBO seriesThe Case Against Adnan SyedandThe Clinton Affair, but this will mark her screenwriting debut. Kapur hasn’t directed a narrative feature film since 2007, instead working in television and making documentaries and short films sinceElizabeth: The Golden Age. It should be interesting to see how all the pieces come together on this one.
Production is slated to begin sometime in December 2020, and there’s no release date envisioned or distribution company attached at this time.
