Hugh Grant to play a washed-up Hollywood talent in new rom-com

Hugh Grant attends the premiere of "Cloud Atlas" at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival.

Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Hugh Grant is heading back to familiar ground with his next effort.

The "Love Actually" star has signed on to re-team with helmer Marc Lawrence - who previously directed him in "Two Weeks Notice," "Music and Lyrics" and "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" - for a new untitled romantic comedy that will see Grant playing a washed-up Hollywood scribe who takes a job as a screenwriting teacher at a college on the East Coast. While there, of course, he meets an inevitably-much-younger single mom who changes everything.

The film is scheduled to begin shooting in New York next April.

Grant and Lawrence scored a pair of hits with 2002's "Two Weeks Notice" and 2007's "Music and Lyrics" (in which Grant starred opposite Sandra Bullock and Drew Barrymore, respectively), before hitting the skids with 2009's "Did You Hear About the Morgans?," which co-starred "Sex and the City" darling Sarah Jessica Parker. That effort brought in less than $30 million domestically on a reported $58 million budget, though it did manage a somewhat healthier take overseas. Can the duo return to their former glory with this new effort? Seems the answer to that question may well lie with the actress they cast as Grant's co-star.

Grant, who hasn't appeared on the big-screen since "Morgans?" was released nearly three years ago, will next be seen in this Friday's star-studded sci-fi/fantasy epic "Cloud Atlas" (review) co-directed by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer.

Are you a fan of Grant and Lawrence's previous collaborations? Any ideas who might make a good co-star for the bumbling Englishman this time around?

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Chris Eggertsen
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A former contributor to sites including Bloody-Disgusting and AfterElton, Eggertsen enjoys rock music, rainy days and smelling the pages of old books. You should read all of his articles and follow him on Twitter because it's the right thing to do.