While we live in a world where spin-offs and sequels are an everyday occurrence, one of the strangest in the film industry must be the [Enter City], I Love You movies. Starting with Paris, Je T'Aime in 2006 (which gathered together works from amazing directors such as the Coen brothers, Alfonso Cuaron, Gus Van Sant, Alexander Payne and Wes Craven), the franchise continued with New York, I Love You in 2009 (which featured less prestigious names like Brett Ratner and Allen Hughes) and movies such as Jerusalem, I Love You; Rio, I Love You; and Shanghai, I Love You have been previously announced. Apparently Australia wants in on the love-fest now too.
THR reports that producers Gary Hamilton and John Polson are now gearing up to make Sydney, I Love You. Just like the other films, the project will contain multiple different stories, but there will be a bit more structure this time. Hamilton and Polson are aiming to have all 12 shorts made by Australian filmmakers, and each one will be set in a different month of the year. The talent search has begun and the current plan is to begin pre-production early next year. It's expected that one composer will be scoring the entire film.
What's strange about all of this is that the two previous releases, Paris and New York, were hardly what you could call box office hits. Still, provided they can get the top-tier filmmakers to sign on, there's a great number of great Australian talent out there, including the likes of John Hillcoat, Baz Luhrmann, Craig Gillespie and Phillip Noyce. If this series keeps going, I wonder how long until governments start funding them as tourism PSAs.
