Love Again (film)

Love Again is a 2023 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by James C. Strouse. It is an English-language remake of the 2016 German film SMS für Dich, itself based on a novel by Sofie Cramer. The film stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan, and Celine Dion, in her first feature film, portraying a fictionalized version of herself.

Love Again was released in the United States on May 5, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.

Plot
Mira Ray and her boyfriend John are very much in love, and often communicate via flirtatious text messages. Directly after they have a loving interaction in a café, he goes outside and is promptly hit by a car before Mira's eyes.

Two years later, Mira is living outside of the city with her parents, and her sister Suzy regularly calls, trying to convince Mira to move back in with her. She is ultimately successful, and greets Mira with open arms.

Rob Burns is miserable, recovering from being dumped a week before his wedding. He unhappily follows his ex Elizabeth on social media. Called in to work, Rob is assigned to write a piece on Céline Dion and is warned that if he doesn't write about her with heart, he might be out of a job.

Given a new corporate mobile phone, Rob chats with his workmates Lisa and Billy, who encourage him to date again. However, he has become cynical about love. Simultaneously, Mira opens a box given to her by John's parents, containing clothes and the engagement ring he never had the chance to give her. A children's book author and illustrator, Mira is threatened by her publisher to either produce another upbeat book soon, or be blamed for an intern's dismissal and be forced to return her last advance.

Rob begins to receive private, lovesick messages from a mystery woman on the new work mobile phone. Discovering that this person has a blind date via a dating app, he goes to the bar to connect a face to the number. Believing he has spotted her, Rob is disappointed to see her leave with her date. Unbeknownst to him, Mira shortly throws the guy out of the cab for being too sexually aggressive.

Going to the interview with Céline, she detects Rob's cynicism toward love. She asks him probing questions until he opens up. Rob is encouraged by Céline to follow his heart, then he runs out of time to conduct the interview, but she encourages him to try the interview again once he's worked through his issues with dating and love.

Deciphering a text, Rob deduces the texter will be going to a specific opera at The Met, so decides to stay for all performances until he finds her. He finally finds her and introduces himself, both discovering her name is Mira Ray and exchanging personal mobile numbers. Meeting for cheeseburgers another day, they continually find ways they are compatible, and are up all night talking. The next night they make dinner together at her place, Mira falls asleep afterwards, and Rob takes to the sofa. Mira freaks out when she finds Rob and Suzy getting on very well.

Rob finds Céline rehearsing, and she notes he has transformed. Mira contacts Rob again, they play basketball, and then spend the night together at his place. In the morning, upon discovering her texts to John on Rob's computer screen, Mira feels betrayed and tells Rob to never contact her again.

In lieu of writing the profile on Céline, Rob instead writes how she and her music inspired him to pursue love, which he found with Mira. He swears that Mira has transformed him and begs that she give him a second chance, proposing they meet where he first began to hear the music again. Rob's boss publicly chews him out for going against his assignment, but quietly praises him, promising him a podcast.

Rob eventually finds Mira somewhere between The Met and Central Park. Once Rob agrees to several promises, they seal the deal with a kiss.

Cast

 * Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Mira Ray
 * Sam Heughan as Rob Burns
 * Celine Dion as herself
 * Sofia Barclay as Suzy Ray
 * Russell Tovey as Billy Brooks
 * Lydia West as Lisa Scott
 * Steve Oram as Richard Hughes
 * Omid Djalili as Mohsen
 * Nick Jonas as Joel
 * Celia Imrie as Gina Valentine
 * Arinzé Kene as John

Production
In April 2019, it was announced James C. Strouse would write and direct the film, tentatively titled Text for You, which would be an English-language remake of the German film SMS für Dich, with Screen Gems set to produce. In October 2020, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan and Celine Dion joined the cast of the film. In November 2020, Russell Tovey, Steve Oram, Omid Djalili, Sofia Barclay, Lydia West, Arinzé Kene and Celia Imrie joined the cast.

Principal photography began in October 2020 and ended in early 2021. Filming first took place in London, after which production moved to the United States.

In April 2022, it was announced that the film had been retitled It's All Coming Back to Me, after the song "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", which Dion covered on her 1996 album Falling into You. In November 2022, it was announced that the film was retitled to Love Again.

Music
The Love Again (soundtrack) was released on May 12, 2023. It features five new songs by Celine Dion and six of her past hits. The first song, "Love Again" was released on April 13, 2023. The second track, "I'll Be" was released on May 5, 2023.

Release
The film was released in the United States theatrically on May 5, 2023. It was previously scheduled to be released on February 10, 2023, and then moved to May 12, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.

The film was released digitally on May 23, with a Blu-ray and DVD release to follow on July 18. It premiered on Netflix in the United States on September 2.

Box office
Love Again has grossed $6.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $12.7 million.

In the United States and Canada, Love Again was released alongside Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,650 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $1.2 million on its first day, including $240,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $2.4 million, finishing fifth at the box office.

Critical response
Audience surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported that female audience members (who made up 75% of the opening weekend) gave it an 81% overall positive score, with 57% saying they would definitely recommend the film.