Love Again (film)

Love Again is a 2023 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by James C. Strouse. It is an English-language remake of the 2016 German film SMS für Dich, itself based on a novel by Sofie Cramer.[6] The film stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan, and Celine Dion, in her first feature film, portraying a fictionalized version of herself.

Love Again
Theatrical release poster
with original release date
Directed byJames C. Strouse
Written byJames C. Strouse
Based on
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAndrew Dunn
Edited byJesse Gordon
Music byKeegan DeWitt
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • May 5, 2023 (2023-05-05)
Running time
104 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9 million[3]
Box office$12.7 million[4][5]

Love Again was released in the United States on May 5, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.

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 in plain view.

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

Production

In April 2019, it was announced James C. Strouse would direct the film, tentatively titled Text for You, which would be an English-language remake of the German film SMS für Dich, with Screen Gems set to produce.[7] In October 2020, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan and Celine Dion joined the cast of the film.[8] In November 2020, Russell Tovey, Steve Oram, Omid Djalili, Sofia Barclay, Lydia West, Arinzé Kene and Celia Imrie joined the cast.[9]

Principal photography began in October 2020 and ended in early 2021.[9] Filming first took place in London, after which production moved to the United States.[10]

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", which Dion covered on her 1996 album Falling into You.[11] In November 2022, it was announced that the film was retitled to Love Again.[12]

Music
Main article: Love Again (soundtrack)

The Love Again (soundtrack) was released on May 12, 2023.[13] It features five new songs by Celine Dion and six of her past hits.[14][13] The first song, "Love Again" was released on April 13, 2023.[15][14] The second track, "I'll Be " was released on May 5, 2023.[16]

Release

The film was released in the United States theatrically on May 5, 2023.[17] It was previously scheduled to be released on February 10, 2023, and then moved to May 12, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.[12][11][18]

The film was released digitally on May 23, with a Blu-ray and DVD release to follow on July 18.[19] It premiered on Netflix in the United States on September 2.[20]

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.[4][5]

In the United States and Canada, Love Again was released alongside Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,650 theaters in its opening weekend.[3] The film made $1.2 million on its first day, including $240,000 from Thursday night previews.[21] It went on to debut to $2.4 million, finishing fifth at the box office.[22][23]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 27% of 45 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Love Again? After watching this treacly romance, you're likely to come away thinking once was more than enough."[24] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 32 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[25] Audience surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak 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.[22]

References
  1. Cramer, Sofie (February 15, 2010). SMS für dich (in German). Rowohlt. ISBN 978-3-644-41291-0. Retrieved May 6, 2023. Cramer, Sofie (February 8, 2022). Text for You. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-313690-3. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  2. "Love Again (12A)". BBFC. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  3. D'Alessandro, Anthony; Tartaglione, Nancy (May 2, 2023). "'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' Ganging Up On 'Super Mario Bros' With $250M+ Global Start – Box Office Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  4. "Love Again". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  5. "Love Again - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  6. "Love Again". Writers Guild of America West. September 28, 2021. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  7. Wiseman, Andreas (April 29, 2019). "'Text For You': Screen Gems Sets Jim Strouse To Direct Rom-Com Redo Of German Box Office Hit, Basil Iwanyk To Produce". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  8. N'Duka, Amanda (October 27, 2020). "Sam Heughan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Music Icon Celine Dion To Star In Romantic Drama For Screen Gems". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  9. Wiseman, Andreas (November 19, 2020). "'Text For You': Russell Tovey, Omid Djalili, Arinze Kene & Celia Imrie Among Cast To Join Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan & Celine Dion". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  10. Levine, Nick (November 20, 2020). "Casting News: Russell Tovey Joins Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan in Romantic Movie 'Text for You'". BBC America. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  11. Chapman, Wilson (April 19, 2022). "Celine Dion Romantic Drama 'It's All Coming Back to Me' Sets Release for February 2023". Variety. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  12. Remley, Hilary (November 2, 2022). "Sam Heughan & Priyanka Chopra Jonas Rom-Com Love Again Sets New Release Date". Collider. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  13. "Love Again (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)". Apple Music. April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  14. Fekadu, Mesfin (April 13, 2023). "Celine Dion Releases New Song "Love Again" Months After Announcing Rare Neurological Diagnosis". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  15. "Céline Dion - Love Again (from the Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Official Lyric Video)". YouTube. April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  16. "Céline Dion - I'll Be (Official Lyric Video)". YouTube. May 5, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  17. Grobar, Matt (April 12, 2023). "'Love Again': Screen Gems Pushes Up Date For Rom-Com Starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan & Celine Dion". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  18. D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 18, 2022). "Sony Dates Screen Gems' Celine Dion Movie 'It's All Coming Back To Me'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  19. "Love Again DVD Release Date". www.dvdsreleasedates.com. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  20. "Netflix Film Page for 'Love Again'". Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  21. D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 5, 2023). "'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' Rockets To $17M+; 'Super Mario Bros' First Illumination Movie To Jump Past $500M U.S. – Friday AM Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  22. D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 7, 2023). "'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' Rises To $116M Opening, Teeing Off Summer – Sunday AM Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  23. "Priyanka Chopra's Love Again flops at US box office, scores 19% on Rotten Tomatoes". The Indian Express. May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  24. "Love Again". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  25. "Love Again". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
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