Grant returning to romantic comedy roots

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- British actor Hugh Grant is to star in writer-director Marc Lawrence's new untitled romantic comedy, producers announced Monday.

Grant, whose film credits include "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill," "About a Boy," "Love Actually" and the Bridget Jones movies, has most recently starred in the time-spanning epic "Cloud Atlas" and the animated family picture "Pirates! Band of Misfits."

Producer Martin Shafer announced Grant will begin work on Lawrence's movie in New York this April. This marks the fourth collaboration between Grant, Lawrence and Castle Rock Entertainment. They previously made "Two Weeks Notice," "Music and Lyrics" and "Did You Hear About the Morgans?"

"In 1998, Ray Michaels was on top of the world -- a witty, sexy, Englishman in Hollywood who had just won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay," a synopsis said. "Fifteen years later, he's creatively washed up, divorced and broke. With no other options, he takes a job teaching screenwriting at a small college on the East Coast. Although the idea of teaching is less than thrilling, he hopes to make some easy money and enjoy the favors of impressionable young co-eds. What he doesn't expect to find is romance with a single mom who's gone back to school."