EXCLUSIVE: Milo Manheim, the 25-year-old L.A. native recently tapped to co-lead Disney’s live-action Tangled, has landed a lead role in Michael Showalter’s redo of rom-com Serendipity for Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax.

No word yet on the role Manheim will play. We announced the project in August; Showalter described this as not a straight remake or reboot of Serendipity, but rather a contemporary “rebuttal” of the original film centered on new characters.

Written by the original’s Marc Klein, the new Serendipity will be produced by Showalter and Jordana Mollick for Semi-Formal Productions, alongside Simon Fields, who produced the original. Jonathan Glickman, Alexandra Loewy, and Thom Zadra are exec producing for Miramax, alongside Klein.

Emily Crook is overseeing the project for Semi-Formal, which is under a multi-year, first-look film deal with Amazon MGM, while Arianna D’Andrea will oversee for Miramax.

Directed by Peter Chelsom and starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, 2001’s Serendipity centers on a couple of strangers who fall for each other one Christmas night in New York, despite being engaged to other people. Separating, their potential future together is left unresolved — until, seven years later, each begins searching for the other.

Miramax released the film to major success — a worldwide gross exceeding $77 million — at a much different moment for the rom-com. Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy and Simon Fields produced.

No word yet on whether the new take will be for theaters or streaming. But the original just celebrated its 25th anniversary with a screening at Wollman Rink, the Central Park ice skating venue that played a memorable supporting role.

Recently seen starring in the Paramount+ series School Spirits and Eli Roth’s horror flick Thanksgiving, Manheim is among the latest crop of young talents emerging from the world of Disney Channel to lead major studio projects. He’s best known for starring in their Zombies franchise, having also taken on roles in the likes of Prom Pact, Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., and Camp Rock 3.

Manheim remains in the Disney family today, as he’s currently set to star opposite Teagan Croft, in the lead role of charming thief Flynn Rider, in the studio’s live-action Tangled, heading to theaters on March 31, 2028. He is repped by Framework Entertainment, CAA, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.

EXCLUSIVE: Chris O’Donnell has launched Lone Cypress Entertainment, a new production company backed with capital for development and production. The company’s first project is the film Kilkenny, starring P.J. Byrne (The Rainmaker, The Five-Star Weekend) and directed by Jay Duplass (Somebody Somewhere, The Baltimorons)

O’Donnell revealed that Lone Cypress is an engine for the company to “assemble great teams and share in our success” from digital series to TV and films. Through the production company, he touts that they will be able to “invest in ideas and help writers package their projects from the earliest stages, whether that’s a pitch, short story, article, book, or spec.”

Jay Lavender, O’Donnell’s producing partner, will develop and produce projects across genres and formats. O’Donnell, who currently stars in and executive produces Ryan Murphy’s hit ABC series, 9-1-1: Nashville, says his own experiences early in his career helped inspire the company.

“When we wrapped NCIS: Los Angeles after 14 seasons, it coincided with our business being in the midst of great disruption,” O’Donnell shared. “As I thought about the next chapter of my career, I kept coming back to the desire to work on unique projects with talented people.”

He added, “When I was starting out, I was fortunate to work with incredible actors and directors who took me under their wings and taught me the ins and outs of the business from performing to promoting. Part of my inspiration for creating Lone Cypress is to give back to the next generation of talent. At the same time, there are so many talented actors and filmmakers I came up with and who blazed the trail before me that I would love to collaborate with.”

Lone Cypress’ first project will be the film Kilkenny, which will be set in Ireland. Plot details are under wraps. Byrne and Duplass are writing the script from a story by Byrne and Andrew Muscato. O’Donnell will produce alongside Lavender, Muscato, Byrne, and Duplass.

“Kilkenny is a perfect example of a talent-driven Lone Cypress project,” said O’Donnell. “I’ve been friends with P.J. for almost thirty years and have been thrilled to watch his career take off. I called P.J. when we started the company and told him I wanted to produce something together. P.J. hit it off with Jay and Andrew on the upcoming I Play Rocky and wanted to work with them again. He brought us their treatment about two unforgettable characters, and I was in immediately.”

O’Donnell is repped by Gersh, Untitled Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer.