The world needs more feel-good love stories, and Amazon's new unique series promises to deliver just that. Modern Love, the popular New York Times column, is officially being turned into a comedy anthology by Amazon, and the platform just announced its all-star cast.
Modern Love will have an all-star cast, including Anne Hathaway, Dev Patel, and Tina Fey. Emily Rossum of Shameless is set to direct an episode written by Audrey Wells, who wrote The Hate U Give. John Carney, the director behind Once, is directing, writing and producing the entire series, with one of the original Modern Love column editors as consulting producer.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
“It’s like I woke up in the actor candy store. We’ve managed to assemble a dream cast of my favorite actors.” Carney told Variety. “It’s a testament to the reach of the original column and of how, now more than ever, love is the only certainty.” Also among the cast are actors Gary Carr (The Deuce), John Slattery, John Gallagher, Jr., Catherine Keener, Sofia Boutella, Julia Garner, Brandon Victor Dixon, Andy Garcia, and Shea Wigham, among others.
The column features readers’ stories about relationships, from the hilarious to the heartbreaking. Modern Love has been hugely successful, inspiring a podcast spinoff and a live event. One popular article called “You May Want To Marry My Husband” has already been picked up for a movie by Universal.
This comes after Amazon’s previous president Roy Price stepped down amid allegations of sexual harassment. Current studio head Jennifer Salke told The Hollywood Reporter in June that Amazon is trying to be more aware of what female audiences want. “We're looking for our next big show that women also can't stop talking about."
Modern Love appears to be the first step in that direction. “[Modern Love is] telling heightened kind of stories about love and romance, not necessarily all romantic,” Salke told Deadline regarding the series. The site reports that the series will explore “love in its multitude of forms – including sexual, romantic, familial, platonic, and self love.”
Amazon has launched several anthologies recently, including the popular series The Romanoffs. Modern Love will likely follow the same format, given the column's style.