Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, is finally in theaters — a moment Bobby Crosby says he’s anticipated for 15 years.
Crosby created the Marry Me webcomic, on which the movie is based, and posted the first page on February 14, 2007 — 15 years ago. He tells ABC Audio that a Marry Me movie could’ve hit theaters a decade earlier — but he didn’t like the proposed changes to the main characters.
Bobby recalls that Nicolas Cage‘s production company, Saturn Films, approached him in 2009 and wanted to cast Justin Timberlake in the role that ultimately went to Lopez. He turned the offer down because, “I didn’t want to switch the genders…I thought it worked better with a female singer.”
Crosby adds, “I don’t think Justin Timberlake ever really knew about this…So who knows how close that actually would have came to happening if I agreed to that.” Had the offer come “five years later,” Bobby admits he would’ve said, “Great, let’s do it!”
Others also saw Marry Me’s movie potential, such as Oscar-winning producer Marc Platt, who’s behind Legally Blonde. Crosby said that iteration didn’t go forward because “they were trying to get a certain director on board.” Although the director “debated on it” in 2008, they ultimately went with another project.
The wheels finally began turning in 2013. “Bruno Mars is kind of responsible for all of this,” revealed Crosby, saying Bruno was “approached” about a Marry Me TV series. “[I heard] it was going to be a show on MTV…But his initial reaction, apparently, was to send it to Jennifer Lopez and say, ‘This should be your next movie."”
Bruno’s instincts were right. Catch Jennifer as Kat Valdez in Marry Me, in theaters and streaming now on Peacock.
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