A new take on the beloved rom-com You’ve Got Mail is in the works at Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Rather than a remake of the original 1998 film starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the new film will follow a new story, though plot details are being kept under wraps.
Jason Orley (Close Personal Friends, Bupkis and I Want You Back) has been tapped to direct the project. He’s also writing the current draft based on a screenplay by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. Neal Moritz and Tania Landau from the original movie are also returning to produce.
The 1998 pic, based on Miklós László’s 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie, follows book superstore magnate Joe Fox (Hanks) and independent book shop owner Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) as they fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet. However, they’re both blissfully unaware that he’s trying to put her out of business. Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton, Steve Zahn, Heather Burns and Dave Chappelle also starred in the film helmed by Nora Ephron.
Upon its release, You’ve Got Mail grossed more than $250 million at the global box office, not adjusted for inflation. It became Ephron’s highest-grossing film to date, behind Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Ryan also earned a Golden Globe nomination the following year for best actress in a motion picture — comedy or musical for her performance as Kathleen.
Orley is repped by UTA, Rise Management and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, & Gellman L.L.P.