Amazon Studios is heading to the altar. The streamer has landed the rights to an untitled wedding comedy from writer-director Nick Stoller that has Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon attached to star.
The trio are also producing via their respective banners: Ferrell is producing with Jessica Elbaum via Gloria Sanchez; Stoller will produce with his Global Solutions shingle partner Conor Welch; and Witherspoon is producing with Lauren Neustadter via Hello Sunshine, with the company’s Ashley Strumwasser exec producing.
Logline details are being kept under the veil, but the premise involves two weddings that are booked at the same venue on the same weekend. Most of the studios dropped out early in the bidding, but among the streamers, competition to land the wedding comedy was as intense as the rush to catch the bouquet toss.
Gloria Sanchez, which has a first-look for TV deal with Netflix and one for film with 20th Century Studios, is behind Netflix’s hit series Dead to Me, which is soon entering its third and final season. It was also one of the companies behind one of 2021’s most acclaimed big screen comedies, Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar. The company recently wrapped Christmas musical Spirited, which Ferrell stars opposite Ryan Reynolds, for Apple TV+.
Stoller is generating strong buzz for his gay rom-com Bros, which he directed and co-wrote with Billy Eichner and which Universal releases Sept. 30. Among his other directing credits are comedies Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the Neighbors movies. He is currently in production on the Apple TV+ series Platonic, starring Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne, which he co-created and is co-showrunning alongside his wife, Francesca Delbanco.
Hello Sunshine has made a name for itself with thoughtful and powerful series such as The Morning Show, Little Fires Everywhere and Big Little Lies, all of which Witherspoon also starred. The company next has coming-of-age drama Where the Crawdads Sing opening though Sony on July 15.
Ferrell is represented by UTA and Mosaic, while Stoller is repped by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham. Witherspoon is repped by CAA, LBI Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.
