Romantic Comedies Opening in 2020: Plot Details and Release Dates

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig in ‘Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar’ (Photo by Cate Cameron)

Are romantic comedies making a comeback? Possibly. There are more heading to theaters or Netflix in 2020 than in recent years, which is good news for rom-com fans.

Here’s a look at what those who crave a good love story have to look forward to in 2020.

Back to Lyla – TBD 2020
Starring Emma Kenney, Tracie Thoms, and Gonzalo Martin
The Plot: After discovering he might die soon, a desperate young man embarks on a quest along his estranged childhood friends to finally discover why the love of his life left.

Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar – July 31, 2020
Starring Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, Jamie Dornan, Damon Wayans Jr, and Wendi McLendon-Covey
The Plot: This summer break out of your shell with Barb and Star. From the gals who brought you Bridesmaids (co-stars and co-writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) comes Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Lifelong friends Barb and Star embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time… ever. Romance, friendship, a villain’s evil plot…

Emma star Anya Taylor Joy
Mia Goth as “Harriet Smith” and Anya Taylor-Joy as “Emma Woodhouse” in ‘Emma’ (Credit : Focus Features)

Emma – February 21, 2020
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner, Rupert Graves, Gemma Whelan, Amber Anderson, Tanya Reynolds, and Connor Swindells
The Plot: Jane Austen’s beloved comedy about finding your equal and earning your happy ending, is reimagined in this delicious new film adaptation of Emma. Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find the love that has been there all along.

The French Dispatch – TBD 2020
Starring Timothee Chalamet, Lea Seydoux, Bill Murray, Benicio Del Toro, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Mathieu Amalric, Lyna Khoudri, Stephen Park, Owen Wilson, and Lois Smith
The Plot: The film is a love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th Century French city and brings to life a collection of stories published in The French Dispatch magazine.

Happiest Season – November 20, 2020
Starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis
The Plot: Happiest Season captures the story of a young woman (Stewart) whose plan to propose to her girlfriend (Davis) while at her family’s annual holiday party is upended when she discovers her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents.

The Kissing Booth 2
A scene from Netflix’s ‘The Kissing Booth 2’

The Kissing Booth 2 – TBD 2020
Starring Joey King, Molly Ringwald, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Jacob Elordi, Taylor Perez, and Joel Courtney
The Plot: Elle Evans (King) just had the most romantic summer of her life with her reformed bad-boy boyfriend Noah Flynn (Elordi). But now Noah is off to Harvard, and Elle heads back to high school for her senior year. She’ll have to juggle a long-distance relationship, getting into her dream college with her best friend Lee (Courtney), and the complications brought on by a close friendship with a handsome, charismatic new classmate named Marco (Perez). When Noah grows close to a seemingly-perfect college girl (Richardson-Sellers), Elle will have to decide how much she trusts him and to whom her heart truly belongs.

Legally Blonde 3 – May 8, 2020
Starring Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Cauffiel, and Alanna Ubach
The Plot: Official plot details haven’t been released.

Love, Guaranteed – TBD 2020
Starring Rachael Leigh Cook, Heather Graham, and Damon Wayans Jr
The Plot: Earnest, hard-working lawyer Susan (Cook) has taken one too many pro bono cases. To save her small law firm, Susan begrudgingly takes a high-paying, high-profile case from Nick (Wayans Jr.), a charming new client who wants to sue a dating website that guarantees users will find love. But Susan and Nick soon find themselves in the middle of a media storm, and as the case heats up, so do their feelings for each other — which could jeopardize everything.

The Lovebirds – April 3, 2020
Starring Anna Camp, Kumail Nanjiani, Issa Rae, and Kyle Bornheimer
The Plot: On the brink of breaking up, a couple gets unintentionally embroiled in a bizarre (and hilarious) murder mystery.

Marry Me – TBD 2020
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Sarah Silverman, and John Bradley
The Plot: The romantic-comedy centers around a pop superstar who, moments before marrying her rockstar fiance at Madison Square Garden, finds out that he was cheating with her assistant and spontaneously melts down on stage and picks a random math teacher out of the crowd to marry instead.

The Prom
Starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Awkwafina, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key, Jo Ellen Pellman, and James Corden
The Plot: Seventeen-year-old Emma Nolan wants only one thing before she graduates: to dance with her girlfriend at the senior prom. But in her small town of Edgewater, Indiana, that’s like asking for the moon.

To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You
Noah Centineo, Lana Condor, Anna Cathcart, and John Corbett (Photo Credit: Netflix / Bettina Strauss)

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You – February 20, 2020
Starring Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Jordan Fisher, Anna Cathcart, Janel Parrish, John Corbett, Sarayu Blue, Ross Butler, Madeleine Arthur, Emilija Baranc, Trezzo Mahoro, and Holland Taylor
The Plot: It’s a new year and Lara Jean (Condor) and Peter (Centineo) are no longer pretending to be a couple. They ARE a couple. And, as Lara Jean navigates a trove of official firsts with Peter – her first real kiss, her first real date, her first Valentine’s Day – she finds herself leaning more on Kitty and Margot (Cathcart and Parrish), Chris (Arthur), and an unexpected new confidant, Stormy (Taylor), to help her manage the complex emotions that come with this new chapter of balancing a relationship and figuring out her authentic self.

But when John Ambrose (Fisher), another recipient of one of Lara Jean’s old love letters, enters her life again she must rely on herself more than ever as she’s confronted with her first real dilemma: Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?