Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani are teaming up on the big screen to star in a new rom-com from Paramount called The Lovebirds.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, production kicks off at the end of January. The new movie is being helmed by Wet Hot American Summer's Michael Showalter, who directed Nanjiani’s surprise hit The Big Sick.
With a script by Aaron Abrams, Brendan Gall, and Martin Gero, Rae and Nanjiani play a couple on the brink of a breakup. As the synopsis reads, “the pair subsequently become embroiled in a bizarre and hijinks-filled murder mystery, and as they get close to clearing their names and solving the case, the twosome need to figure out how they, and their relationship, can survive the night.”
Nanjiani, Rae, and Showalter are also serving as executive producers on the film.
The premise of this movie contains a mist of irony. Last year, Rae got caught up in a bit of controversy over a passage from her 2015 book The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. In her comedic memoir, named after the web series that launched her into stardom, Rae suggests educated Black women and Asian men “join forces in love, marriage, and procreation” since both groups have a hard time in the world of dating. She unjustly got a lot of flack for that comment, and later poked fun at it during an episode of Insecure.
Now she’s starring in a whole rom-com opposite a South Asian man, so we’ll see if the haters come out of the woodwork to say anything about it. In the meantime, Issa is living her best life and starring in Little, the masterpiece created by Black-ish star Marsai Martin.
Nanjiani will soon star opposite Guardians of the Galaxy's Dave Bautista in Fox’s action-comedy Stuber, which is set to open July 12. He’s also helping announce the Oscar nominees next week with Tracee Ellis Ross.
