Everyone in the universe is frustrated by whatever the heck is going on with Nancy Meyers’ next movie, a big-budget romantic comedy called Paris Paramount that was set up at Netflix for a couple of days before the streaming service balked at the budget Meyers wanted for the project—she reportedly wanted $150 million, but Netflix would only sign off on $130 million, and it seems totally ridiculous that it couldn’t find a lousy $20 million laying around. Either way, Warner Bros. is reportedly interested in picking up the project, since it’s a company that knows a little something about burning cash (unless this was a trick to spend $150 million on the project just so the studio could write it off on its taxes).
But the movie is still stuck in some kind of movie limbo, despite having a famous/beloved director and a bunch of big stars attached (Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Owen Wilson, and Michael Fassbender, apparently), and now Meyers herself is speaking out about the film’s troubled development. On Instagram over the weekend (via Entertainment Weekly), the It’s Complicated director confirmed that the movie will be called Paris Paramount, and she also noted that the name comes from a quote by German director—and arguable creator of the rom-com genre—Ernst Lubitsch (of The Shop Around The Corner and Design For Living fame).
Meyers post goes on to confirm the premise of the movie, saying it’s “about a group of people making a film and the magic and mystery of what we do.” (Previous reports said it was about a director and a producer who fall in love, make great movies together, split up, and then have to reunite to make another project.) So, for those keeping score at home, it’s a Nancy Meyers movie about people making a movie, billed as an homage to Lubitsch, and studios aren’t throwing $150 million at her to see this movie that everyone wants to see.