Be still our beating hearts!
While there might never be a better rom-com pairing than that of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, thanks to iconic films Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride, we’re about to get the next best thing—the adorable onscreen pairing of Roberts and Ocean’s Eleven co-star George Clooney.
The Hollywood pair will star in Universal Pictures’ latest romantic comedy project, Ticket To Paradise. Roberts and Clooney will star as “a divorced couple that teams up and travels to Bali to stop their daughter from making the same mistake they think they made 25 years ago,” getting married.
The Hollywood Reporter adds Parker and Daniel Pipski wrote the script, and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title will produce alongside Sarah Harvey and Deborah Balderstone. The project is directed by Ol Parker (who also helmed Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again).
It’s not the first time the pair has worked together either, so there’s sure to be some great chemistry. Clooney and Roberts have previously starred alongside one another in Jodie Foster’s Money Monster and in the Ocean’s Eleven movie franchise.
Now, in a new interview with the New York Times, Julia reveals what it was like to work on this romantic comedy almost 20 years since she’s last appeared in one.
“People sometimes misconstrue the amount of time that’s gone by that I haven’t done a romantic comedy as my not wanting to do one”, the star said.
“If I had read something that I thought was that Notting Hill level of writing or My Best Friend’s Wedding level of madcap fun, I would do it… they didn’t exist until this movie.” Given that comparison, we know that this film will be at the top of our favourite ‘romantic comedies’ list for years to come.
Robert’s also explained what it was like to reunite with George Clooney for the role. The actress advised that her first thought when she read the Ticket To Paradise script was “this only works if it’s George Clooney”. According to the publication, Clooney also only signed onto the film because Julia Roberts was involved.
“To run around Australia with George playing these very funny scenes—I’m living my acting dreams,” Roberts said.
In case you missed it, Julia and George joined the legions of A-listers who (temporarily) called Australia home during 2021. Despite the film being set in Bali, the production selected the exclusive Qualia Resort of the Whitsundays to shoot the project.
After completing their compulsory 14-day quarantine in the lavish Sydney harbourside suburb of Vaucluse, the Hollywood heavyweights were spotted jetting around Hamilton Island.
Interestingly, the federal government granting the production $6.4 million in funding to make the movie down under.
While the trailer for the upcoming project hasn’t been released, Deadline reports the film is set to hit theatres later this year on October 21.
In the meantime, you can read everything to know about the new film here.
