Michael Showalter, who directed Nanjiani in the hit 'The Big Sick,' is reteaming with the comedian for the fast-paced rom-com being made by Paramount and MRC.


Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae have teamead up to star in The Lovebirds, a romantic comedy just picked up by Paramount Pictures.


Michael Showalter, who directed Nanjiani in the surprise hit The Big Sick, is reteaming with the actor and will be sitting in the helmer’s seat when the fast-tracked project goes into production at the end of January.


Written by Aaron Abrams and Brendan Gall as well as Martin Gero, the script centers on a couple, to be played by Nanjiani and Rae, that is on the brink of a break up. The couple becomes embroiled in a bizarre and hijinks-filled murder mystery and as the man and woman get close to clearing their names and solving the case, they need to figure out how they, and their relationship, can survive the night.


Tom Lassally, Olly Obst, Todd Shulman, Jordana Mollick and Gero are producing the rom-com, which is being co-produced and co-financed by MRC. (MRC is owned by Valence Media.)


Nanjiani, Rae and Showalter are serving as executive producers.


Nanjiani, one of the stars of HBO comedy Silicon Valley, broke out in a big way with Sick, which earned him and his co-writer wife Emily V. Gordon an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay as it became a sleeper hit in the summer of 2017. He will next be seen starring opposite Dave Bautista in Fox’s action comedy Stuber that opens July 12.


Rae is the co-creator of HBO comedy Insecure, in which she is a triple threat as writer, exec producer and actress. Rae, who was recently seen in the drama The Hate U Give, next stars in Little, a body-morphing comedy that Universal opens April 12.