Issa Rae & Kumail Nanjiani’s ‘The Lovebirds’ Gets A Netflix Release Date

Issa Rae (Insecure) and Kumail Nanjiani’s (The Big Sick) rom-com The Lovebirds finally has a release date after weeks of theatrical cancellations announced due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The comedy flick, which features Nanjiani and Rae as a couple trying to escape a strange mystery, was set to premiere in theaters on April 3 via Paramount Pictures. As the pandemic developed, according to Entertainment Weekly, Paramount pulled the theatrical release and gave Netflix the green light to stream the movie beginning May 22.

The film, directed by Michael Showalter, was slated to launch its world premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival. However, SXSW was one of the first large-scale events canceled after the initial stay-at-home orders were put in place.

The new trailer released by Netflix sets the scene for a wild ride with the two actors. It begins with a couple, Leilani and Jibran, in their car when a man posing as a cop takes control of their vehicle and chases down an alleged suspect. When the mysterious man runs the suspect over, more than once, with the car, it’s clear that he might not be a cop. The man flees, leaving Leilani and Jibran to bear the consequences. Witnesses appear on the scene and begin to ask questions, prompting the couple to take off on a nearly 90-minute adventure in order to escape the law.

Both Rae and Nanjiani took to social media to announce the streaming premiere date for The Lovebirds, doing so with an adorable video. The clip shows them engaging in a mock FaceTime call, catching up with each other and talking about their time in quarantine. When the topic of watching Netflix comes up, they reveal the date to fans. At the end of the video, Nanjiani playfully asks Rae if she wants to “hang out” on a Zoom conference chat. In response, she pretends that the call dropped.

Viewers took to the comments section of the post to share their thoughts.

“Yessssss thank you for coming to Netflix!” commented one Instagram user.

“Hahaha… This was cute! Looking forward to May 22nd,” another fan wrote.

The Lovebirds also stars Anna Camp and Paul Sparks.

The pandemic is causing many films that were originally set to release in 2020 and early 2021 to either be pushed back or be released via various streaming services. As The Inquisitr reported, The Batman release has been pushed back to October 2021. Disney’s live-action Mulan reboot was initially set to come out on March 27 but is now premiering on July 24.

Another Paramount film seeing a change in release date is John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II, now coming to theaters on September 4 nationwide.