If you’re into romantic comedies and food of the pizza variety, look no further. Little Italy is coming to the U.S. in September. The Little Italy movie depicts a story of star-crossed lovers who find themselves in a heated romance despite their families’ rival pizza businesses — and it sounds like a film worth seeing.
Let’s venture into the land of tomato sauce and forbidden love, shall we?
Little Italy movie plot
Nikki Angioli (AHS’ Emma Roberts) is working abroad in London as a chef when she returns home (Little Italy) to sort out issues with a work visa. This is when she reconnects with Leo Campo (Star Wars’ Hayden Christensen), whose family owns a rival pizza joint nearby.
They were childhood friends, and now, as adults, the two find themselves in a whirlwind romance in the midst of their families’ feud. As Entertainment Tonight describes, “Little Italy is like Romeo and Juliet, except with less death and more pizza.”
The official synopsis from Canada’s eOne Films reads:
“The director of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Miss Congeniality serves up a delicious new comedy topped with passion, playfulness and pepperoni,” states the synopsis. “Former childhood pals Leo (Hayden Christensen) and Nikki (Emma Roberts) are attracted to each other as adults — but will their feuding parents’ rival pizzerias put a chill on their sizzling romance?”
You may recall that Roberts’ aunt Julia Roberts starred in a pizza film of her own back in 1988, Mystic Pizza — which was also directed by Donald Petrie.
In an apparent ode to the classic movie, Roberts wears a t-shirt that reads, “A Slice of Heaven,” in Little Italy, almost exactly the same as the one her aunt wore in Mystic Pizza.
Little Italy movie trailer
“My father would consider this the highest form of treason,” Roberts tells Christensen in the film as they make pizza together.
“What’s that? The pizza, or us being together?” Christensen asks, to which Roberts replies, “Both.”
The Little Italy movie trailer came out last week — and it shows Christensen climbing up a ladder to serve Roberts pizza through her bedroom window (no, we’re not joking). Watch it below:
Little Italy movie cast
Aside from Roberts and Christensen, the Little Italy movie also stars Alyssa Milano (Dora), Andrea Martin (Franca), Danny Aiello (Carlo) and Jane Seymour (Corrine).
According to ET Canada, the film was shot in Toronto’s Distillery District.
“Little Italy is a romantic comedy with a really big heart,” Christensen told Just Jared at the end of filming. “It’s a story about a community that loves, laughs, fights and forgives. It reminds us that love knows no boundaries.”
Roberts also told the site that she jumped at the chance to play Nikki when she heard Petrie was directing the film.
“It’s about family, it’s about food, it’s about love,” she told ET Canada of the Little Italy movie. “It is a romantic comedy, which I was so excited when I got the script because I love romantic comedies so much, and I feel like I don’t see them as much as I would like to.”
Little Italy movie premiere date
The Little Italy movie hits Canadian theaters on August 24. It comes to select U.S. theaters and On Demand September 21.
Get your appetites and tissues ready because we could all use a reminder that, when all else fails, there are three things we can always count in this world: family, the right person with a good heart and, of course, food — especially when topped with melted mozzarella.
