What Happens Later, which has been touted as Meg Ryan’s return to the romantic comedy genre after more than a decade, is the second film to avoid potential bad blood by skipping a face-off with Taylor Swift.
A day after the news that AMC Theatres will release the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film in the chain’s theaters Oct. 13, Bleecker Street announced Friday that What Happens Later, which Ryan directs and also stars in opposite David Duchovny, will vacate that weekend and instead open three weeks later on Nov. 3. This follows Universal announcing Thursday that horror sequel The Exorcist: Believer, also previously slated to open Oct. 13, will move up a week to similarly avoid the new competition.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
“So we’ll take our time…Are you ready for it?” Bleecker Street tweeted. “Meg Ryan ends her 14-year rom-com hiatus and the #Megaissance begins with #WhatHappensLater, now happening…later. Coming only to theaters November 3!”
AMC Theatres earlier revealed that Swift’s film set a single-day ticket sales record Thursday for the exhibitor with $26 million, topping AMC’s previous record of $16.9 million in first-day sales for 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. In addition to screening the film, AMC is the theatrical distributor and has also lined up Cinemark and Regal Cinemas to show the title in the U.S.
The Eras Tour film, which documents the singer’s massively successful string of concerts that wrapped up its U.S. dates last month, is set to run for four weekends. Tickets run $19.89 for adults and $13.13 for children.
Based on Steven Dietz’s play Shooting Star, What Happens Later stars Ryan and Duchovny as a pair of ex-lovers who reconnect in an airport more than 20 years after their fizzled romance. Ryan directs the film from a script she co-wrote with Dietz and Kirk Lynn.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Click here to read the full article.