Info in Movie News | Dave Bautista is trading action scenes and space battles for something a little softer, but just as bold. The actor known for playing Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy and a hardened warrior in Dune is stepping into a genre he’s long admired from afar: the romantic comedy. But in true Bautista fashion, The Romantic isn’t your typical rom-com.
According to Deadline, Paramount Pictures has officially acquired The Romantic, an original spec script written by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. Bautista is attached to star as Ed Schwenke, a six-foot-four man with a surprising double life. Ed is secretly the author behind the bestselling romance novels of Francine London. When the truth threatens to come out, he hires a no-filter woman to impersonate Francine at a romance fiction convention. Chaos, comedy, and maybe even love ensue, all while a skeptical journalist with a disdain for romance and liars starts sniffing around.
The movie will be produced by Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort under its first-look deal with Paramount, alongside Bautista’s own Dogbone Entertainment. It’s still in the early stages since no director has been confirmed, however, the movie’s insane concept is already making some noise. The movie is an unusual blend of genres as it fuses the nostalgic romantic comedy with a slightly twisted element, and features an actor who has not been in the limelight for a while at the heart of it.
Kaplan and Elfont are no strangers to the rom-com world. The writing-directing duo made their name with cult classic movies like Can’t Hardly Wait and Josie and the Pussycats, and also penned mainstream hits like Made of Honor and Leap Year. Their recent pivot to R-rated comedy with Guys with No Friends, which sold to Paramount for over $1 million, shows their versatility. With The Romantic, they return to familiar territory, this time with a hilarious gender-bending hook and an unconventional leading man.
For Bautista, this project is far from being just one more movie, it’s a dream come true. In a 2023 interview, he candidly revealed his efforts to enter the romantic comedy market. “I am aware that I am not your usual rom-com lead,” he admitted. “I’m a little rough around the edges. But I always, you know, I look in the mirror and I ask myself, ‘Am I that unattractive? Is there something that unappealing about me that excludes me from these parts?’” He added that he’d never been offered a rom-com role but kept hoping the opportunity would come. With The Romantic, it finally has.
Bautista’s upcoming slate is as varied as ever. He’s starring in the action thriller Trap House from Aura Entertainment, the buddy cop comedy The Wrecking Crew alongside Jason Momoa for Amazon MGM, and the alien invasion comedy Alpha Gang from the Zellner Brothers. In The Last Showgirl, alongside Pamela Anderson, he was widely lauded for his understated work.
Now, in The Romantic, Bautista can showcase another side of him, one that involves comedy and sensitive emotions. This genre change is like a hint that he is not just the one with a lot of muscles. After all, even tough guys need a little love.
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