Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae's The Lovebirds finally has a Netflix premiere date

By Shannon Miller  |  April 20, 2020 | 1:51pm
Film Features Film
Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae's The Lovebirds finally has a Netflix premiere date
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During the mad scramble to rehome theater and festival-bound films that were displaced by the coronavirus, Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae’s The Lovebirds was actually one of the first major titles to secure a sweet back-up deal with Netflix. That little nugget of joyful news surfaced on March 20 (“which was somehow only a month ago,” we mumble to ourselves, gently swaying side to side), yet we were still missing some pertinent information… like a premiere date. Well, today’s a great day for a number of reasons: We finally know when we’ll actually get to see Paramount Pictures’ long awaited romantic comedy. This morning, Nanjiani tweeted a video announcement featuring the two socially distanced stars, who informed their waiting public that The Lovebirds will begin streaming on May 22—a whole month from now. Check out the rather cute video below.

In The Lovebirds, Nanjiani and Rae star as a couple who wind up entangled in a major murder mystery during a thoroughly botched date night. The film was originally slated to premiere at this year’s SXSW festival until the event was cancelled by the state of Texas in one of the first major industry-related blows of the pandemic. Director Michael Showalter, Rae, and Nanjiani had already canceled their SXSW appearance days before out of an abundance of rightful caution. Thankfully, audiences will finally get to see Paramount’s labor of love take flight, though we’ll have too wait and see whether or not the movie will see Trolls World Tour levels of digital success.

 
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