Drama is a hard sell these days. It often takes a big name, or in some cases more than one, to get people in the theaters to see a traditional romance picture or a cerebral narrative. Spyglass, the production company behind last year’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Star Trek and Invictus, understands this and has acted accordingly to get their wrenching romantic drama The Vow made.
The Hollywood Reporter scoops that Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams have committed to the film, bringing much needed star power to a movie that otherwise might never have gotten off the ground. They’ll help director Michael Sucsy tell the real-life story of a newlywed New Mexico couple who end up in a car crash. The wife is put in a coma, where she is cared for by her devoted husband. When she comes to, without any memory of her husband or their marriage, the husband woos her and attempts to wins her heart again.
The trade notes that the project, written by Sucsy, Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, has been in development for over a decade and at one point had Julia Roberts set to star. Today’s audiences will more likely flock to see heartthrob Tatum and it-girl McAdams in the film than Roberts anyway, so everyone’s a winner this time around.
Still, production won’t begin until both actors finish up their current respective workloads: Midnight in Paris and Terrence Malick’s upcoming romance film for McAdams and Cheaters for Tatum.
