Batista He always has pending projects, they continually start and premiere new -without going further, we recently told everything from Trap House or was confirmed Dreadnought– And the most recent is The Romantic.
► Batista will star The Romantic
Our partners Deadline They bring us All the details exclusively:
Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights of The Romantic, an original romantic comedy written by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, with Dave Bautista as the protagonist. Maximum Effort will produce the film under its first option agreement with the study, together with Dogbone Entertainment, the Baptist producer.
The film tells the story of Francine London, a successful author of romantic novels who keeps a great secret: in reality, she is a corpulent man of almost two meters named Ed Schwenkand. When ED's true identity is in danger of being discovered, he hires an unpredictable woman to get through Francine at a romantic literature convention, while trying to evade a skeptical journalist who hates romance even more than liars. For now, The film has no assigned director.
The news of the project is especially prominent, since Bautista has spoken for years of his desire to star in a romantic comedy. In a 2023 interview with Page Six, the Dune star and Guardians of the Galaxy said:
“I know I'm not the typical protagonist of a romantic comedy. I am a bit rude. But I always look in the mirror and ask myself: 'Am I so unattractive? Is there anything so unattractive in me that excludes me from these papers? '”
Bautista added that, although “he has never received an offer to make a romantic comedy,” he had “Much hopes“To meet that goal and that I would continue to search until you find the right opportunity.
He is currently considering an offer to participate in Road House 2 of Amazon MGM. Soon, Bautista will star in the AURA Entertainment Trap House Action Tape, and also the “Buddy Cop” the Wrecking Crew action of Amazon MGM, along with Jason Momoa, both produced by Dogbone Entertainment. Recently he acted with Pamela Anderson in the drama The Last Showgirl, praised by critics, and also pending the premiere of Alpha Gang, a comedy about an alien invasion directed by the Zellner brothers. Bautista is represented by WME and Karl Austen of Jackoway Austen Tyerman, as well as his producer Dogbone.
Kaplan and Elfont, meanwhile, are not new in the world of romantic comedy. They are known for writing and directing Can't Hardly Wait and Josie and The Pussycats, in addition to writing the Made of Honor and Leap Year movies. Creative partners since they met at the Tisch School of the arts of Nyu, recently they have ventured into the most irreverent comedy with Guys With No Friends, a film with R classification that sold to Paramount for more than one million dollars after a war of offers among several studies. In May they signed with Verve and continue to be represented by Entertainment 360.
Paramount Lands Rom-Com Spec ‘The Romantic’ From Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont; Dave Bautista Aboard To Star https://t.co/pCErmoBuGL
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) June 25, 2025
