Somehow, Keke Palmer has been working in Hollywood for nearly two decades now (since she was a child actor in the industry) and not once been a lead in a romantic comedy. That doesn’t feel right, does it? Thankfully, the actress just struck up a deal to join the world of rom coms with an upcoming movie co-starring Kevin Hart called The Backup.
Both Palmer and Hart will both star and produce the movie for Universal. The Backup will reportedly follow Keke Palmer as Alyssa, a newly engaged woman heading to Maui for a destination wedding. Little does she know that her childhood friend and major player, Ben, who she asks to be the best man at the ceremony, is secretly in love with her and decides to attend the wedding with winning her heart in mind.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, but did not indicate whether Kevin Hart is playing Ben, but as the second lead signed on to The Backup, we certainly imagine the comedian will be playing her best friend and unexpected secret admirer. According to the report, in the script, Ben will take “his boys” with him to the wedding to outshine Alyssa’s fiancé in hopes of her changing her mind.
The Backup has a fun setup for a romantic comedy between Keke Palmer and Kevin Hart. The script was written by Chris Brew and Jordan Gouveia, which will mark a first major feature for both of them. Brew is also an actor who has found guest appearances on shows like Black-ish, Insecure and #BlackAF. Along with Hart and Palmer both producing the film through their production companies, Autumn Bailey-Ford, who produced projects like Tulsa and Blackbear, is also involved.
Palmer shared the news of The Backup on Instagram and thanked the writers and producers for giving her the “opportunity to constantly level up and expand outside of being a talent but a business woman.” It’s great to see another Keke Palmer movie that sees the actress not only playing the lead, but also behind the scenes in a big way!
Keke Palmer is coming off starring in Jordan Peele’s latest horror movie, Nope, alongside Daniel Kaluuya and Steven Yeun. The actress also lent her voice to Lightyear, led the Sundance flick Alice and hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time last year. During Palmer’s monologue, she also announced she was expecting her first child with boyfriend Darius Jackson. Palmer gave birth less than three weeks ago to a baby boy they’ve named Leodis Andrellton, or “Leo” for short.
Kevin Hart is always keeping himself busy too, and The Backup is one of many upcoming movies the comedy actor is involved with. Hart’s next movie is an action movie called Lift, which is among Netflix new releases and also stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Sam Worthington, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jacob Batalon. Lift will be released on August 25. Hart will also soon work with Will Smith on an upcoming Planes, Trains and Automobiles remake.
We’ll keep you posted here on CinemaBlend as we learn more about The Backup.
