Casting is coming together on a new romantic comedy that will pair Filipino-Australian actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith with two performers known to international audiences simply as Yao and Jamie Chung, according to people with knowledge of the project. The film, titled We Could Be in Love, is being positioned as a cross-market romantic comedy, though the filmmakers have not yet detailed a production start or a distribution plan.
Curtis-Smith, who has built a career across Philippine television and film, is the only element of the announcement independently confirmed by USA Film News. She is known to audiences for a range of roles in series and features that have traveled widely through streaming platforms. Her involvement signals a continued push into projects with international casting appeal.
Yao and Chung bring their own followings. Chung is a familiar presence to American viewers through work in studio comedies, genre films and prestige television, giving the project a recognizable face for Western audiences. Yao, billed here with a single name, adds further reach into Asian entertainment markets. The combination suggests a production hoping to speak to rom-com fans on multiple continents at once.
The title itself, We Could Be in Love, nods to a well-worn romantic-comedy tradition: a tentative, almost-confession that doubles as a promise. It is the kind of name that tells audiences exactly what they are getting - longing, near-misses, and the eventual leap. What remains unclear is whether the story will follow a conventional will-they-or-won't-they arc or something more structurally adventurous.
The trio's casting, first reported as an exclusive, arrives at a moment when romantic comedies are enjoying a quiet resurgence. Streamers have rediscovered the genre as a reliable draw, particularly when built around performers with followings in more than one region. Films that can travel without losing their romantic core have become attractive to buyers, and We Could Be in Love appears designed with that logic in mind.
A Three-Cornered Cast
Details about the characters remain under wraps. What is known is that the film will lean on three leads rather than the traditional two-hander, which opens the door to a story about friendship, timing or competing affections. Romantic comedies built around a trio often hinge on mistaken signals and shifting allegiances, but there is no confirmation yet about how the relationships are configured.
For Curtis-Smith, the project represents another step in a career that has moved fluidly between local productions and internationally minded work. She has long been a favorite of Philippine audiences, and a lead role in a rom-com with two internationally known co-stars could expand her profile further.
Chung's presence adds a different kind of recognition. She has moved between broad studio comedies and darker ensemble work, and she brings a comic timing that suits the genre. Yao's casting is the wild card here, at least for viewers outside Asian markets, and the project's success may depend partly on how the three performers' chemistry reads on screen.
What We Still Don't Know
No director, writer or production company has been confirmed. There is no release window, no announced filming location and no indication of which language or languages the film will be shot in. Those gaps are typical at this early stage, when a casting exclusive is often the first concrete sign that a project is moving forward.
What the announcement does suggest is that the filmmakers are aiming for a wide, global audience rather than a single territory. The blend of a Philippine film and television star with two Asian-American and Asian-market performers fits a pattern now common in romantic comedies: stories built to travel, cast to connect.
Romantic comedies have always depended on the alchemy between their leads. A title like We Could Be in Love promises the genre's central pleasure - the ache of almost, followed by the relief of yes. Whether Curtis-Smith, Yao and Chung can deliver that feeling is the question the film will ultimately have to answer.
For now, the project remains in development, with more announcements expected as production plans firm up. USA Film News will continue to follow the story as details are confirmed.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter