Pitch sale: Untitled Allan Loeb comedy project

Working Title beat out other bidders to nab “Untitled Allan Loeb comedy project”:

In the third big money pitch deal this week, Working Title paid high six figures against seven figures for an untitled concept comedy that Allan Loeb will write as a star vehicle for Ryan Reynolds.

Pic is described as a dude-in-drag romantic comedy, with Reynolds playing a jilted lover who must disguise himself as a woman and befriend his ex in order to win her back.

Okay, so a strong high concept that I’m sure went over great in the room. But doesn’t it strike you as pretty risky — because the entire story hinges on the fact that the GF will not recognize that her new girl friend is her ex-BF in drag? It’s one thing for Tootsie where Michael Dorsey introduced him/herself as a new entity in their lives, but presumably in this story, the GF has to have known the ex-BF long enough to have jilted them — which qualifies as pretty intimate knowledge.

Yes, there’s Mrs. Doubtfire, and that must be what Working Title is banking on: There a father dresses up as an older woman with a significantly reshaped body and a Scottish accent. Can only guess that the “woman” Reynolds will transform into will be as radically different in body type and vocals to convince his ex-GF — and more importantly the audience — that s/he is a different person than the ex-BF.

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