‘The Lovebirds’ fly over to Netflix as pandemic-hit theatres remain shut

The covid-19 pandemic is taking a toll on the theatrical releases of movies worldwide. With public gatherings being banned in almost all the countries across the globe, theaters and cinema halls will continue to remain shut in many countries for at least a couple of months more.

Major global theatrical releases such as Black Widow, No Time To Die and Fast and Furious 9 which were to release to in the coming few months have been postponed either towards the end of this year or onto the next year. As the prediction of how soon the theaters will reopen still cannot be made with any certainty, producers begin look over the alternatives of a theatrical release for their medium and low-budget films.

Release Date

Paramount/Media Rights Capital’s comedy The Lovebirds was supposed to have a theatrical release on 3^rd April. Owing to the pandemic crisis, Paramount cancelled its theatrical roll out and partnered with Netflix to premiere it directly online. The Lovebirds will fly over to Netflix on 22^nd May.

Cast

Top cast of the film consists of Kumail Nanjiani as Jibran, Issa Rae as Leilani, Anna Camp, Paul Sparks, Betsy Borego as Reya, Kyle Bornheimer as Brett, Kelly Murtagh as Evonne and Moses Storm as Steve. The film is directed by Michael Showalter and the screenwriting was done by Aaron Abrams and Brendon Gall. Showalter and Nanjiani had previously worked together in the surprise hit The Big Sick.

Plot

The duo of Jibran (Nanjiani) and Leilani (Rae), a couple living in New Orleans, is on the verge of breaking up their relationship. Unexpectedly they find themselves getting entangled in a murder mystery and try to make their way out of it.

In an interview about the first look of the film with Entertainment Weekly, Nainjiani said, “The aspects I love the most are the rare moments of sweetness between the two leads. They spend so much of the movie bickering that the hints of what they used to be are my favorite.”

Trailer