Netflix is shutting down Nancy Meyers , the star-studded romantic comedy that was expected to be her first directorial venture in nearly a decade.
According to sources, Netflix and Meyers could not come to an agreement on the budget. Meyers is said to have asked for a budget of at least $150 million, but the studio didn’t want to go above $130 million. It was a steep price tag for a genre that is usually more mid-budget and could have made it the most expensive romantic comedy of all time. Meyers, who most recently directed the 2015 Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro film Trainee, has directed some of the genre’s top budgets and is known for his work with big stars like Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. He is also known for her Architectural brief– valuable production planning.
The romantic comedy starred Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Michael Fassbender and Owen Wilson and Meyers wrote, directed and produced the film known as Paris Paramount. (Unclear if that was the real name, Working Title, or codename.) The film was first announced nearly a year ago, and a week ago things seemed to be heating up, with reports of several cast members.
The focus of the film would have been a young writer-director who falls in love with the producer. The couple makes several successful films before breaking up both romantically and professionally. They are forced back together when a great new project arises and find themselves dealing with high stakes and fickle stars.
The project had parallels with Meyers’ life. She and fellow writer-producer Charles Shyer had a long-term romantic and professional relationship working on films such as Private Benjamin, Baby Boom, The Parent Trap and Father of the bride. After the split, Meyers wrote and directed features such as What women want, Something has to give and Holiday.