Will Netflix Hit A Home Run with 'Players?'
Gina Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr., and Tom Ellis play for love in the new trailer.
As romantic comedies faded to black on the silver screen (Fingers crossed that Anyone But You’s box office success means good things for their future there), they found a new home on streaming — namely, Netflix.
The streamer has crafted quite the slate of rom-coms since the success of 2019’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Set It Up. That same year, Jennifer Kaytin Robison’s rom-com Someone Great inspired Taylor Swift to write “Death by a Thousand Cuts” for Swift’s album Lover. Netflix has even become a go-to spot for holiday love stories when November rolls around, rivaling the Hallmark Channel and bringing the Lindsay Lohan back to the genre with 2022’s Falling for Christmas.
Still, none of the rom-coms (Always Be My Maybe should have!) have reached the same transcendent success as that trifecta from 2019. Will its latest, Players, starring Gina Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr., and Tom Ellis, change that?
Here’s the gist: New York sportswriter Mack (Rodriguez) has spent years devising successful hook-up “play” with best friend Adam (Wayans Jr.) and their crew. While it has led to countless one-night stands over the years, following their playbook comes with a strict set of ground rules — chief among them: You can’t build a relationship from a play. When Mack unexpectedly falls for her latest target, charming war correspondent Nick ( Ellis), she begins to rethink the game entirely. As the lines between work, fun, friendship, and romance begin to blur, Mack must learn what it takes to go from simply scoring to playing for keeps.
Written by Whit Anderson (2016’s Daredevil) and directed by Trish Sie (Pitch Perfect 3 & Step Up All In), Players premieres on Wednesday, February 14.
Ultimately, the core trio of Players speaks highly of what it could be.
Gina Rodriguez is no stranger to romantic comedies, with Jane the Virgin, Someone Great, and I Want You Back under her belt. Damon Wayans Jr. showcases his comedic and romantic chops on New Girl before starring in Netflix’s Love, Guaranteed. Tom Ellis starred as the flirtatious yet ultimately lovestruck Lucifer Morningstar opposite Lauren German’s Chloe Decker in the consultant procedural drama Lucifer. Ellis is so charming and charismatic on that show that it’s utterly shocking that Players is his first rom-com as a romantic lead.
The supporting cast also has a history with romantic comedies, Netflix, or both.
Augustus Prew starred in 2018’s Ibiza (which deserves more love for featuring Richard Madden as a cute DJ). Liza Koshy starred in Work It, which debuted in 2022 and had Sabrina Carpenter and Jordan Fisher among its ensemble. Does it need to be said that Joel Courtney starred in all three The Kissing Booth movies?
But what about Players’ concept? How does it fit into the rom-com landscape and respond to what fans of the genre want or need in their entertainment right now? “The world is in need of a sweet escape. Players is both tender-hearted and irreverent. It’s cheeky, but it’s kind. It's a reminder that love is always possible, and friendships are priceless,” director Trish Sie told PEOPLE. That friendship stands out in what plays over Adam telling Mack in the trailer, “You missed the point. It was never about the plays. It was about being with people who get you.”
Sie added, “You’re gonna love this movie whether you’re home alone with a cup of tea, cuddled up with your sweetheart or your best friend or your mom or your tribe of pals from college. It’s just a big, warm, good time. It’s dessert; and like I said, there’s always room for dessert!” The two-minute trailer for Netflix’s latest rom-com proves this “dessert” is layered with a few good tropes like a notoriously noncommittal person (Mack) wanting to settle down with someone they can see as “the one” (Nick). The hitch? Mack may lose herself in her best effort to win the game — and the guy. Enter Adam, Mack’s best friend, who knows her.
The Players trailer teases a friends-to-lovers romance between Mack and Adam, with Wayans Jr. delivering a line like, “Yeah, well, he should at least know what you do like.” That line almost screams that “the one” has been right next to Max all along. Still, Players could always throw a curve ball. But even if it doesn’t, there is some comfort in knowing the big swings that await me on Valentine’s Day.
Mostly, I’m excited to see Tom Ellis enter the rom-com world. With Players and the dramedy series Second Wife co-starring Emma Roberts, who is no stranger to romantic comedies, Ellis is slowly leaving his stamp on the genre — and its adjacent counterparts. As a long-time Lucifer fan and a rom-com fanatic, Players is already looking like a home run for me. Will you be streaming the movie?
💌 Shelby
*Featured photo is courtesy of Netflix