Jake Gyllenhaal and Kevin Costner are set to star in Honeymoon with Harry. Amazon MGM Studios has finally scooped this project up, putting the long, long-gestating dramedy on track after two decades of false starts.
The Premise
The story, adapted from Bart Baker’s 2012 novel of the same name, follows a man (Gyllenhaal) who, in the wake of his fiancée’s sudden death just two days before their wedding, decides to go on the planned honeymoon anyway. His unlikely travel companion? The would-be father-in-law (Costner) he doesn’t exactly get along with. What follows is an uneasy trip where grief and comedy are bound to collide.
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A Journey Through Hollywood Limbo
This isn’t the first time Honeymoon with Harry has tried to make it down the aisle. First set up back in 2004, the project has collected almost as many names as a wedding guestbook. Paul Haggis (Crash) once wrote a draft with Vince Vaughn and Jack Nicholson circling. Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) showed interest, as did Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook). At one point, Silver Linings Playbook co-stars Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro were eyed for the leads.
Coming to Life at Amazon MGM
As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon MGM has now secured the rights, with Glenn Ficarra and John Requa on board to direct. The duo previously teamed with writer Dan Fogelman on Crazy, Stupid, Love, a film that blended humour and emotion to strong acclaim, and later reunited with him on the Hulu series Paradise. Fogelman, of course, is also known as the creator of This Is Us. Ficarra and Requa’s feature directorial efforts also include Focus, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and I Love You Philip Morris.
Alongside Fogelman, the producing team includes Mike Karz of Gulfstream Pictures and former Amazon MGM chief Jennifer Salke, who’s making her producing debut through her new company, Sullivan Street Productions. It’s also something of a reunion: Salke championed Fogelman’s This Is Us during her NBC years.
For Gyllenhaal, this continues his run with Amazon after the streaming giant’s Road House remake became a huge hit—so much so that a sequel is already gearing up. He also recently drew acclaim for Presumed Innocent on Apple TV+, which earned him an Emmy nomination. Costner, meanwhile, comes off years invested in his sprawling Horizon: An American Saga project, and his acclaimed run on Yellowstone.
