New Line has tapped Plus One filmmaking duo Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer for its romantic comedy Singles Day, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned. Chan will direct and Rhymer will join Good Fear’s Chris Bender and Jake Weiner as producers.
The rising stars’ feature debut as writers, directors and producers starred PEN15‘s Maya Erskine with Jack Quaid as college buddies who fall in love over a summer serving as each other’s wedding dates. In his review of Plus One, THR reviews editor Jon Frosch praised the pair’s “fine sense of pacing, a good ear for banter and a knack for wringing maximum comic juice from an exchange.” The indie rom-com won the Audience Award at Tribeca last year.
Now making their first studio movie, Chan and Rhymer will write a new draft of Lillian Yu’s Singles Day spec, which is centered on the Chinese anti-Valentine’s Day holiday that, aptly, takes place Nov. 11. The interconnected ensemble of romantic partners, friends and family will be predominantly of Asian descent.
Chan and Rhymer, who were nominated for two WGA Awards as writers on Erskine’s PEN15, are represented by Verve, Anonymous Content and Jackoway Austen. Good Fear, whose current slate includes Disney’s Mulan (moved to July 24) and STX’s My Spy (now acquired by Amazon), is in development on an adaptation of comic book series Ice Cream Man for Quibi as well as Sabrina, a biopic about Sabrina Greenlee, the mother of NFL star DeAndre Hopkins.
