''Love Again'' is a 2023 American romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

James C. Strouse James C. Strouse is an American screenwriter and film director. He wrote and made his directorial debut with ''Grace Is Gone'' (2007), starring John Cusack. Career He wrote the film ''Lonesome Jim'' (2005), directed by Steve Buscemi. He wrot ...

. It is an English-language remake of the 2016 German film ''

SMS für Dich ''SMS für Dich'' ( en, Text for You) is a 2016 German romantic drama film directed and co-written by Karoline Herfurth, based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Sofie Cramer. It stars Herfurth, Friedrich Mücke, Nora Tschirner, Frederick Lau a ...

'', itself based on a novel by Sofie Cramer. The film stars

Priyanka Chopra Jonas Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awar ...

Sam Heughan Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

, and

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, in her first feature film, portraying a fictionalized version of herself. ''Love Again'' was released in the United States on May 5, 2023, by

Sony Pictures Releasing Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (commonly known as Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainme ...

Plot

Mira Ray and her boyfriend John are very much in love, and often communicate via flirtatious messages. Directly after they have a loving interaction in a café, he goes outside and is promptly hit by a car before Mira's eyes. Two years later, Mira is living outside of the city with her parents and her sister Suzy regularly calls, trying to convince her to move back in with her. She is ultimately successful, and greets Mira with open arms. Rob Burns is miserable, recovering from being dumped a week before his wedding. He unhappily follows his ex Elizabath on social media. Called in to work, Rob is assigned to write a piece on Céline Dion and warned if he again doesn't write about her with heart he might be out of a job. Given a new corporate phone, Rob chats with his workmates Lisa and Billy, who encourage him to date again. However he's become cynical about love. Simultaneously, Mira opens a box given to her by John's parents, containing clothes and the engagement ring he hadn't the chance to give her. A children's book author and illustrator, Mira is threatened by her publisher to either produce another upbeat book soon or be at blame for an intern's dismissal and be forced to return her last advance. Rob begins to receive private, lovesick messages from a mystery woman on the new work mobile. Discovering the person has a blind date via a dating app, he goes to the bar to connect a face to the number. Believing he's spotted her, Rob is disappointed to see her leave with her date. Unbeknownst to him, Mira shortly throws the guy out of the cab for being too sexually aggressive. Going to the interview with Céline, she detects Rob's cynicism toward love. She asks him probing questions until he opens up. Rob is encouraged to follow his heart by Céline, then runs out of time to conduct the interview, but she encourages him to try again once he's worked through his issues. Deciphering a text, Rob deduces the texter will be going to a specific opera at The Met, so decides to stay for all performances until he finds her. He finally finds her and introduces himself, both discovering her name is Mira Ray and exchanging personal mobile numbers. Meeting for cheeseburgers another day, they continually find ways they are compatible, and are up all night talking. The next night they make dinner together at her place, Mira falls asleep and Rob takes to the sofa. She freaks out when she finds him and Suzy getting on very well. Rob finds Céline rehearsing, and she notes he's transformed. Mira contacts him again, they play basketball and then spend the night together at his place. In the morning, upon discovering her texts to John on his computer screen, she feels betrayed and tells him to never contact her again. In lieu of writing the profile on Céline, Rob instead writes how she and her music inspired him to pursue love, which he found with Mira. He swears that she has transformed him and begs she give him a second chance, proposing they meet where he first began to hear the music again. Rob's boss publicly chews him out for going against his assignment, but quietly praises him, promising him a podcast. Rob eventually finds Mira somewhere between the Met and Central Park. Once he agrees to several promises, they seal the deal with a kiss.

Cast

as Mira Ray *

as Rob Burns *

as herself * Sofia Barclay as Suzy Ray *

Russell Tovey Russell George Tovey (born 14 November 1981) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural comedy-drama '' Being Human'', Rudge in both the stage and film versions of ''The Histo ...

as Billy Brooks *

Lydia West Lydia Dorothy West (born 24 June 1993) is a British actress. She is known for her roles in the BBC One series '' Years and Years'' and the Channel 4 series ''It's a Sin'', the latter of which earned her a BAFTA nomination. Early life West is f ...

as Lisa Scott *

Steve Oram Stephen John Oram is an English actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He is known for his role in the 2012 film ''Sightseers'', which he also co-wrote. Life and career Oram was born in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England. He started as a ...

as Richard Hughes *

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili ( fa, امید جلیلی; born 30 September 1965) is a British actor, comedian and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in Chelsea, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents. He attended Holland Park ...

as Mohsen *

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

as Joel *

Celia Imrie Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is an English actress and author. She was described in 2003 as one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' f ...

as Gina Valentine *

Arinzé Kene Arinzé Mokwe Kene () is a Nigerian-born British actor and playwright. Early life In 1987, Kene was born in Lagos, Nigeria and moved to London when he was four. Kene's father was a taxi driver. Kene was bullied growing up and was encouraged ...

as John

Production

In April 2019, it was announced

would direct the film, tentatively titled ''Text for You'', which would be an English-language remake of the German film ''

'', with

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

set to produce. In October 2020,

and

joined the cast of the film. In November 2020,

, Sofia Barclay,

and

joined the cast.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in October 2020 and ended in early 2021. Filming first took place in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, after which production moved to the United States. In April 2022, it was announced that the film had been retitled ''It's All Coming Back to Me'', after the song "

It's All Coming Back to Me Now "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" is a power ballad written by Jim Steinman. According to Steinman, the song was inspired by ''Wuthering Heights'', and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. ''The Sunda ...

", which Dion covered on her 1996 album ''

Falling into You ''Falling into You'' is the fourth English-language and fourteenth studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 11 March 1996 by Columbia/Epic Records. The follow-up to her commercially successful album ''The Colour of My Love'' (19 ...

''. In November 2022, it was announced that the film was retitled to ''Love Again''.

Music

The ''Love Again'' (soundtrack) was released on May 12, 2023. It features five new songs by

and six of her past hits. The first song, " Love Again" was released on April 13, 2023. The second track, " I'll Be " was released on May 5, 2023.

Release

The film was released in the United States theatrically on May 5, 2023. It was previously scheduled to be released on February 10, 2023, and then moved to May 12, 2023, by

. The film was released digitally on May 23, with a

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

release to follow on July 18. It premiered on Netflix in the United States on September 2.

Reception

Box office

''Love Again'' has grossed $6.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $12.7 million. In the United States and Canada, ''Love Again'' was released alongside ''

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (stylized as ''Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3'') is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team), Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Ma ...

'', and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,650 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $1.2 million on its first day, including $240,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $2.4 million, finishing fifth at the box office.

Critical response

Audience surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film a ...

reported that female audience members (who made up 75% of the opening weekend) gave it an 81% overall positive score, with 57% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

References

External links

* * * {{Thunder Road Films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2023 romantic comedy-drama films 2023 films American remakes of German films American romantic comedy-drama films Celine Dion Films about interracial romance Films based on adaptations Films based on German novels Films based on romance novels Films directed by James C. Strouse Films produced by Basil Iwanyk Films scored by Keegan DeWitt Films shot in London Films set in New York City Romance film remakes Screen Gems films Thunder Road Films films