Roku is making a franchise out of its original unscripted rom-com, Meet Me in Paris.
But instead of the Champs-Élysées or Luxembourg Gardens, the second Meet Me reality rom-com will see a new group of young women traveling to Rome in search of love. Production for the 90-minute film, Meet Me in Rome, is set to begin later this year and will debut at a later date on The Roku Channel.
Like Meet Me in Paris, Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Zoe Saldaña’s Cinestar Pictures will return to co-produce the film. Witherspoon, Saldaña, Sara Rea, Sue Kinkead, Cisely Saldaña, Mariel Saldaña and Angela Rae Berg will serve as executive producers.
“Meet Me in Paris was a dream to make,” Rea, who leads unscripted for Hello Sunshine, said. “We witnessed three exceptional women becoming dear friends as they searched for love in one of the most romantic cities in the world. It was the perfect unscripted romantic comedy, and we did it all with a wink and a fun nod to traditional rom-coms.”
In a joint statement, the Saldañas noted their shared “commitment to a cinematic approach to storytelling, featuring diverse female talent” with Hello Sunshine. “We look forward to our continued partnership with Roku Originals on this franchise and beyond,” Cisely, Mariel and Zoe Saldaña added.
The franchise will serve as the latest piece of original programming for The Roku Channel as Roku bolsters its productions across scripted and unscripted. Last year, Roku debuted its “Weird” Al Yankovic satire with Daniel Radcliffe that nabbed wins at the Critics Choice Awards, the BAFTAs and the PGA Awards. On the unscripted side, Roku struck deals with Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse last May for cooking and lifestyle shows that included access to Stewart and Lagasse’s back catalogs to fill out Roku’s library.
The company also made a splashy hire in Charlie Collier, the former CEO of Fox Entertainment who now leads Roku Media. One of Collier’s first moves was elevating David Eilenberg to oversee content for Roku Media, with Brian Tannenbaum leading originals and reporting up to Eilenberg.
“The team behind Meet Me in Paris took a bold risk by tackling a genre-busting format, and that creative bet paid off,” Tannenbaum said. “We are thrilled to partner once again to expand this into a reality rom-com franchise only on The Roku Channel.”
