One of the most beloved romantic comedies of the 1990s is getting a new life. Warner Bros. is rebooting You've Got Mail, the 1998 hit starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, with Jason Orley attached to direct, Variety confirmed. Deadline was first to report the news.
Orley is drafting the script, building on an earlier version by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, the team behind Can't Hardly Wait and Josie and the Pussycats. Neal Moritz and Tania Landau are producing under the Original Film banner. Plot details, casting and a release date have not been announced.
From AOL inboxes to dating apps
Nora Ephron's original starred Hanks as Joe Fox, whose big-box bookstore threatens Ryan's Kathleen Kelly and her independent children's bookstore. In person they clash, but online they fall for each other anonymously. The cast also included Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton, Steve Zahn and Dave Chappelle.
Warner Bros. released the film on Dec. 18, 1998, and it became a major box office success, earning $250 million against a budget of about $65 million, according to Variety.
The big question is how a story built on email will play in the age of dating apps. Orley has worked in modern romance before: he directed the 2022 Amazon rom-com I Want You Back, and he recently wrapped post-production on Close Personal Friends, an Amazon comedy starring Brie Larson, Jack Quaid, Lily Collins and Henry Golding.
