WEEK IN WOMEN: Kat Coiro’s YOU, ME & TUSCANY Sweeps into Theaters – Brandy McDonnell reports

Acclaimed filmmaker Kat Coiro directs Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page in her new film You, Me & Tuscany, which opens in theatres on April 10.

Coiro is an actor, director, writer and producer whose most recent television project is CBS’ hit Matlock reboot starring Kathy Bates, Skye P. Marshall and Jason Ritter. She served as an executive producer and director on the pilot, and she went on to produce the rest of the series as well as directing several more episodes.

You, Me & Tuscany, a Universal Pictures project originally titled Italianna, stars Bailey as Anna, a young woman who has abandoned her dreams of becoming a chef and is now drifting through her twenties with a series of bad choices. When Anna loses her house-sitting job (and housing) in one fell swoop, a chance encounter with Matteo — a handsome Italian who happens to have a villa sitting empty in Tuscany — will inspire her to jet off for Italy, against the advice of her always-honest bestie, Claire (Aziza Scott, Home Before Dark).

But Anna’s plan to crash at Matteo’s villa, without permission, just for one night, falls apart when Matteo’s mother, Gabriella (Italian film icon Isabella Ferrari) shows up at the house unexpectedly. In a panic, Anna allows Gabriella to believe that she is Matteo’s fiancée.

That little lie becomes a big problem, though, when Matteo’s cousin, Michael (Page, Bridgerton, Black Bag) shows up, and Anna discovers that the heat between them may ignite a fire that will transform her life.

Supporting stars Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page, the romantic comedy’s international cast includes Lorenzo de Moor (The Legend Hunters) as Matteo, Marco Calvani (The Four Seasosn) as an Italian taxi driver who befriends Anna and Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) as Anna’s house-sitting client, Mrs. Dunn.

Directed by Coiro from a screenplay by Ryan Engle (Rampage, Beast), You, Me & Tuscany is based on an original idea by Ryan Engle and Kristin Engle. The rom-com is produced by Will Packer (Girls Trip, the Ride Along franchise and 10 movies that have opened No. 1 at the U.S. box office) and Johanna Byer (Point Blank, executive producer of Praise This) for Will Packer Productions. The executive producers are Ryan Engle and Kristin Engle. Continue reading on THE WEEK IN WOMEN