Kumail Nanjiani And Issa Rae Will Fall In Love In Rom-Com 'The Lovebirds' From 'The Big Sick' Director Michael Showalter

There's nothing insecure about this (big) sick casting. Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae are about to sweep each other off their feet in the upcoming romantic-comedy The Lovebirds, which will see Nanjiani reteaming with his The Big Sick director Michael Showalter. Read more about The Lovebirds cast below.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Nanjiani and Rae will star as the leads in The Lovebirds cast, which has been picked up by Paramount.

Written by Aaron Abrams, Brendan Gall, and Martin Gero, The Lovebirds centers on a couple (Nanjiani and Rae) on the brink of a breakup. Per THR:

The pair subsequently become embroiled in a bizarre and hijinks-filled murder mystery, and as they get close to clearing their names and solving the case, the twosome need to figure out how they, and their relationship, can survive the night.

Based on that brief synopsis, The Lovebirds sounds like a mix of The Break-Up and Game Night — a zany approach to the rom-com befitting two comedy heavyweights like Nanjiani, whose 2017 Oscar-nominated surprise hit The Big Sick marked the beginning of the ongoing rom-com Renaissance, and Rae, who created and stars in the acclaimed HBO series Insecure.

The Lovebirds is just the latest project to maintain the ongoing rom-com revival, which is seeing huge returns thanks to the mega-success of Crazy Rich Asians, To All The Boys I've Loved Before, Set It Up, and more. Now that reality has become a trash fire, audiences are realizing that the escapism offered by rom-coms is more enticing than ever, and a rom-com starring Nanjiani and Rae is already a formula for success. You could even call them...birds of a feather. I can't wait to see Nanjiani flex his rom-com muscles again and for Rae to be her utterly charming self as she continues to carve out a big-screen career for herself following The Hate U Give and the upcoming Little.

The project has been fast-tracked into production, and will start shooting at the end of January. Nanjiani, Rae and Showalter are all serving as executive producers for The Lovebirds, which is being co-produced and co-financed by MRC.

No release date has yet been set for The Lovebirds.