Jennifer Lopez Returns To Rom-Coms
For the first time since 2012, Jennifer Lopez will be returning to the world of romantic comedies with a new film alongside Armie Hammer.
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For the first time since 2012, Jennifer Lopez will be returning to the world of romantic comedies with a new film alongside Armie Hammer.
According to Deadline, Shotgun Wedding will star the pair as Darcy (Lopez) and Tom (Hammer), a couple who bring their families to a destination wedding. But as the celebration gets underway, not only to Darcy and Tom get cold feet, their entire wedding party is taken hostage. Shotgun Wedding will be directed by Pitch Perfect’s Jason Moore and written by Mark Hammer (Two Night Stand) and Liz Meriwether (New Girl). The film is expected to go into production early next year.
Shotgun Wedding is Jennifer Lopez’s first rom-com in eight years, since What to Expect When You’re Expecting, co-starring Cameron Diaz and Elizabeth Banks. After a string of 2000s rom-coms that didn’t work out so well, like 2003’s Gigli, 2004’s Jersey Girl, and 2010’s The Back-up Plan, Lopez has mostly stayed away from romantic comedies over the last decade.
Jennifer Lopez has starred in relatively smaller films over the last few years, in films like the 2013 thriller Parker, 2015’s The Boy Next Door, and 2018’s Second Act. But last year’s Hustlers gave Jennifer Lopez some of the greatest reviews of her career, as stripper/schemer Ramona Vega. The film earned Lopez her second Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. Earlier this year, Lopez even co-headlined the Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show with Shakira.
But Shotgun Wedding isn’t the only romantic comedy Jennifer Lopez has coming up. Marry Me will be Lopez’s first return to rom-coms since 2012, which she will star in with Owen Wilson, Sarah Silverman, and Game of Thrones’ John Bradley. In Marry Me, Lopez plays Latin pop star Katalina Valdez, who discovers that her musical and romantic partner is cheating on her. Valdez then decides to marry a random audience member at one of their concerts who is holding a “Marry Me” sign. Marry Me was shot at the end of 2019 and is currently scheduled for a February 12, 2021 release.
Jennifer Lopez is also attached to The Godmother, a story about Columbian drug lord Griselda Blanco. At last report, it looked as though Lopez would star and produce The Godmother, and could potentially make the film her directorial debut.
Jennifer Lopez’s Shotgun Wedding costar Armie Hammer also has quite a number of interesting projects on the way in the near future. Hammer just starred in Ben Wheatley’s Netflix adaptation of the classic Daphne du Maurier novel Rebecca, and will be seen later this year in Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, alongside Annette Bening, Gal Gadot on Letitia Wright. Death on the Nile is planned for a December 18, 2020 release.
But beyond Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez, Hammer has much more on the way soon. Hammer will appear in the dramatic thriller Dreamland with Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Rodriguez, and Greg Kinnear. Hammer has also filmed Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, about a Dutch-American football coach teaching the American Samoa national team. The film will star Michael Fassbender and Elizabeth Moss.
As for uncertain projects in the future, Hammer is still planning on making the anticipated sequel to Call Me By Your Name with Timothée Chalamet, but in a recent interview with Collider, said that it’s too soon for a sequel, that the sequel needs some room to breathe, while director Luca Guadagnino has said that the characters must age a bit more before production can begin. Hammer is also scheduled to be a part of a new series about Watergate with Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail as executive producer, entitled Gaslit. The series will also star Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, and Joel Edgerton.
But even though it’s been a while since Jennifer Lopez has done a romantic comedy, she’s a much more interesting artist and actress than she was when she made What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Coming off an incredible year that included a Golden Globe nomination and a fantastic Super Bowl performance, Lopez is at the top of her game. With a great writing and directing team and Armie Hammer to star alongside her, Shotgun Wedding could be a great return to the rom-com genre for Lopez.
