Netflix is closing a deal to acquire the Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae-led comedy “The Lovebirds” from Paramount and Media Rights Capital.
The pair star as a couple who experience a defining moment in their relationship when they are unintentionally embroiled in a murder mystery. Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick”) directs.
The movie was originally going to premiere at SXSW ahead of an April 3rd theatrical release. That didn’t happen, and rather than pushing the film Paramount has decided to sell it off to Netflix, not unlike what they did with “The Cloverfield Paradox” and “Eli” along with the international runs of “Annihilation” and “Shaft”.
It’s not clear when Netflix plans to stream the film but will likely arrive sooner rather than later to take advantage of the existing marketing push. It also, intriguingly, has apparently been in the works for a while and so the coronavirus pandemic had nothing to do with Paramount’s decision.
The news comes as a bunch of speciality titles have also altered their dates. “Dosed” has ditched its March 27th limited release for a digital one, “Human Capital” has been pushed to VOD today, while both “Military Wives” and “Dream Horse” have been pushed to May.
Source: Collider
