Meg Ryan Is Set To Star In Her First Romantic Comedy In 13 Years

Romantic comedies are officially back. About a month after it was revealed one romcom legend, Julia Roberts, will be returning to the genre after 20 years, Variety has revealed another will be joining her. Meg Ryan is set to direct and star in the upcoming film, What Happens Later, her first romcom in 13 years.

Variety reports Ryan will star alongside David Duchovny in the film, which depicts a “evolved and nostalgic” take on the classic romcom genre. The story is based on the play Shooting Star by Steven Dietz and it follows Ryan and Duchovny as exes who find themselves trapped in an airport together decades after their split. “What if late one snowy night you came face to face with someone from your long ago?” the logline for the movie reads. “Someone who once held your secrets, because once, long ago, that person held your heart.” As the night goes on, the two must revisit their past as they consider “what could have been and what might well be again.”

What Happens Later will mark Ryan’s second time sitting in the director’s chair following her debut in 2015 with the historical drama Ithaca. Ryan, though, has never directed a romantic comedy, and this is her first time even stepping into the genre since 2009’s Serious Moonlight. “We are beyond fortunate that the project is in the hands of one of the most gifted romantic comedy actors of her generation” said Andrew Karpen, CEO of Bleeker Street, which bought the rights to the film. Currently, What Happens Later is set for a theatrical release in 2023.