Emma Stone will not be liked

It had already been confirmed earlier this year that Emma Stone’s next project, shockingly, won’t be a film with Yorgos Lanthimos. Instead she’s finally making another rom-com, co-starring Chris Pine, and directed by her husband Dave McCary, called The Catch. Back in February, Deadline reported that as soon as Emma was attached, several actors expressed interest in the project with Chris ultimately landing the part. At the time, though, there weren’t all that many plot details, but yesterday there was an additional casting announcement that also came with more story.

Emma Stone + Chris Pine is already excellent casting. And in a rom-com? I’ve already bought a ticket, I don’t need to know what it’s about. Now Ashley Padilla has signed on, perhaps in the role of the best friend/sister/assistant (which Betty Gilpin just did SO well in Office Romance), plus we now know that Emma’s playing “the most hated woman in baseball”, something to do with the fact that she f-cks up an important play (by catching the ball?) during a game. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the film has been described as “Bull Durham meets Notting Hill”.

Bull Durham and Notting Hill? OK so Bull Durham because baseball – we love baseball! – and Notting Hill because she has to go into hiding and bunks down with an adorably awkward and unassuming normie?

Hurry the f-ck up and make this movie so we can watch it TOMORROW, PLEASE!

Here’s another reason to be excited about The Catch. The version of the script that they’re working with was co-written by Jen Statsky, the co-creator of Hacks, building off the original idea by Patrick Kang and Michael Levin. If you watch Hacks, you know what Jen can do.

I can’t wait to see Emma in this role. And it’s a smart role for her to play at this point in her career – because she’s been popular, even beloved, for so long. But around the time that she won her second Oscar for Poor Things, there’s been a subtle shift. Leaning into that by playing “the most hated woman in baseball” is a savvy move. Whatever f-ckass negativity there is on f-ckass TikTok can be directed towards a character and a performance. Not a full villain, but a person battling a villain label in a movie, but then longing and yearning looks in the rain and kiss and make it all better.