More than two decades after AOL and dial-up internet helped bring online romance into the mainstream, You’ve Got Mail is getting another chance to capture audiences. Warner Bros. is developing a new take on the beloved romantic comedy, with Jason Orley (I Want You Back, Big Time Adolescence) attached to direct.

Plot details and the approach to the new version are being kept under wraps. Orley is writing the current draft, based on an earlier screenplay by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, the creative duo behind Can’t Hardly Wait and Josie and the Pussycats.

Neal Moritz will produce alongside Tania Landau through Original Film, following their recent work on the upcoming adaptation of Emily Henry’s bestselling novel Beach Read.

The original You’ve Got Mail, directed by Nora Ephron, starred Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks as Kathleen Kelly, an independent children’s bookstore owner, and Joe Fox, the corporate bookselling executive whose business threatens her shop. The two become anonymous online pen pals and fall for each other without realizing they’re professional rivals.

The 1998 film was based on Miklós László’s play Parfumerie and its earlier film adaptation, The Shop Around the Corner. Arriving during the early days of widespread email use, the romantic comedy captured the excitement of forming intimate connections online while also reflecting the growing tension between independent bookstores and big-box retailers. It became a major box-office success, earning more than $250 million worldwide.

The movie also marked the third pairing of Hanks and Ryan, following Joe Versus the Volcano and Sleepless in Seattle, and their final collaboration with Ephron.

Orley arrives at the project after completing post-production on his third feature, Amazon’s upcoming comedy Close Personal Friends. The film stars Brie Larson, Jack Quaid, Lily Collins and Henry Golding, with Maximum Effort producing alongside Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger. The story was conceived by Orley and Aptaker.

The filmmaker previously directed Amazon’s I Want You Back, starring Charlie Day, Jenny Slate and Gina Rodriguez. His feature debut, Big Time Adolescence, starring Pete Davidson, premiered in the dramatic competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival before being acquired by Hulu. Orley has also collaborated with Davidson on Peacock’s Bupkis and several comedy specials.

Meanwhile, Kaplan and Elfont bring plenty of romantic-comedy experience to the project. In addition to writing and directing Can’t Hardly Wait and Josie and the Pussycats, the pair penned Made of Honor and Leap Year. The longtime creative partners, who met at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, also recently set up two projects at Paramount: the R-rated comedy Guys with No Friends, acquired in a bidding war, and the Dave Bautista-led romantic comedy The Romantic.

With online dating and digital communication having evolved considerably since the original film’s release, this new take has an interesting opportunity to explore how romance works in a very different internet era. Whether it can recapture the charm of Ephron’s classic remains to be seen.

Amazon MGM Studios has tapped filmmaking duo John Requa and Glenn Ficarra to direct Spinster, a new romantic comedy written by Jenni Ross. The pair, best known for directing films such as Crazy, Stupid, Love and I Love You Phillip Morris, are returning to the studio for the project.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the film will have a seasoned romantic-comedy producer behind it. Todd Lieberman, whose credits include The Proposal and Shotgun Wedding, will produce through his Hidden Pictures banner. The company’s Carly Elter and Alex Young will serve as executive producers.

Spinster marks another collaboration between Requa, Ficarra and Amazon MGM Studios. The directors recently wrapped work on Honeymoon with Harry, an upcoming road-trip dramedy starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Kevin Costner.

Beyond their romantic-comedy work, the duo has built an eclectic filmography that includes Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and Focus. Their Crazy, Stupid, Love featured an ensemble cast led by Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore and Emma Stone. They have also worked as screenwriters on films such as Bad Santa, Bad News Bears and Jungle Cruise.

On the television side, Requa and Ficarra co-created Paramount+’s Rabbit Hole and have contributed to acclaimed series including Paradise, WeCrashed and This Is Us.

In a major shake-up for DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down from their leadership positions as early as December, bringing an end to their four-year run overseeing the comic book entertainment label. The duo will continue producing various DC projects but are returning to their full-time creative work, with former Marvel executive Jeremy Latcham stepping in to lead the studio.

The move comes as something of a surprise given the authority Gunn and Safran were handed when they took charge of DC Studios. There had already been speculation about their future following the Warner Bros. acquisition, and those questions now appear to have found an answer.

Gunn and Safran are currently in post-production on Man of Tomorrow, the upcoming Superman sequel scheduled to hit theaters on July 9, 2027. Safran has also reportedly been linked to a potential move to Netflix for a senior film leadership position, although that remains unconfirmed.

Jeremy Latcham Takes Over DC Studios

Taking over as President and Chief Creative Officer of DC Studios is Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Senior Vice President of Production and Development. He will officially begin his new role on December 1, reporting to Skydance Motion Picture Group co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein.

That reporting structure represents a notable change for DC. Previously, the studio’s leadership reported directly to the CEO, a position held by David Zaslav before the merger and subsequently by David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz. Under the new arrangement, DC will report to Goldberg and Greenstein, aligning it with the other Warner film labels.

Latcham is no stranger to major superhero franchises, having helped shepherd some of Marvel’s biggest properties, including Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, and The Avengers. He also previously worked with Gunn on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.

In his new position, Latcham will oversee DC’s film, television, and animation slate, including its creative pipeline, production, talent relationships, and broader strategy.

What Happens To James Gunn’s DC Universe?

Gunn and Safran unveiled their ambitious DC plan, titled Gods and Monsters, in January 2023. Their vision was meant to establish a connected slate of films and television projects, giving the DC Universe a more unified creative direction.

With the leadership change, however, the big question is which projects will survive under the new regime. Several announced titles have spent considerable time in development, including James Mangold’s proposed Swamp Thing movie and Andy Muschietti’s take on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Other projects have seemingly lost momentum. The Peacemaker spinoff Waller, starring Viola Davis, a Wonder Woman-related series titled Paradise Lost, Booster Gold, and a movie centered on DC’s antihero team The Authority have all faced uncertain futures.

Gunn previously addressed the challenges surrounding The Authority in a February 2025 social media post, describing it as a particularly ambitious project that would require considerable time and care. He also acknowledged that elements introduced in Superman and other projects had affected the film’s development, making it harder for the screenplay to come together.

Gunn has also recently revealed that he is working on a screenplay for another feature project. Interestingly, his farewell statement confirms that he and Safran have already been engaged on another DC project, which he is writing. Its identity and eventual place in the studio’s plans remain unclear.

James Gunn Shares Emotional Statement About Leaving DC Studios

Gunn addressed the news in a lengthy statement shared on social media, reflecting on his four years at the helm, the people he worked with, and his eagerness to return to filmmaking.

“Oh, boy. What a four years.”

“Thanks to all of you who have supported me and Peter in our time as the heads of DC Studios. When I was a kid growing up in Manchester, Missouri, I used to write and draw my own comics with a mix of DC Comics characters and my own characters. Having full access to these characters to do whatever we wanted has been a dream come true. I didn’t know if I wanted this job when it was offered to me, but I just couldn’t pass up the unique opportunity. I’m glad I took the job.”

“There have been so many highs along the way – releasing Superman and Clayface, making Peacemaker, reading the scripts to The People Vs, the entire process of Man of Tomorrow, which thus far has been the best filmmaking experience of my life, and numerous other moments.”

“The highest of the highs have been all the talented and wonderful people I’ve worked with and grown to love: the DC Studios crew, our talented collaborators, our casts and crews, and the boisterous and hilarious fans. And the best part of all has been working with Peter Safran, the smartest and most competent person I know. You’ve been the best partner a person could ask for, and, more so, a truly good friend.”

“But what only the closest people to me have known over the past four years is my time at DC Studios has been trying, to say the least. I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that). I’m always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I’ve stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years (Jenn, I love you and I’m sorry and you don’t need to feel guilty for being the happiest of all people that I’m no longer doing this job). And the thing my ADHD hyperfocus has had the most difficulty with has been dividing my time between projects I’m incredibly passionate about and the ones I’m not so much and all the things I have to do as a studio head.”

So, yes, I will miss the people around me, and I will miss being the co-caretaker of these great characters, but I’m also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking.

That’s not to say Peter and I are immediately done with DC or superheroes. We have Man of Tomorrow out this summer. And we’ve just been engaged on another DC project which I’m writing, and we’ll see where it goes after that. And, of course, the characters we set up will live on.

Thank you so very, very much for embracing the characters and stories we’ve put on screen.

Love and gratitude,
James Gunn