Jennifer Lopez shares why she took the bold step to self-fund her romantic movie This Is Me...Now: A Love Story

To bring her vision of the upcoming musical film This Is Me…Now: A Love Story to life, Jennifer Lopez took on the responsibility of financing the project herself. The multi-talented superstar discussed the Prime Video original film, which complements her latest album This Is Me...Now, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Monday. 

She disclosed that she independently funded the ambitious visual project. As revealed in a subsequent interview with Variety, the production expenses for the album, film, and accompanying documentary totaled $20 million. Following its completion, Amazon acquired the project.

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Musical Epic

Dave Meyers helms This Is Me…Now: A Love Story, a musical and visual narrative inspired by the life experiences that shaped Jennifer Lopez's latest album, "This Is Me…Now," serving as a sequel to her 2002 release "This Is Me…Then," which delved into her initial relationship with now-husband Ben Affleck.

The film boasts an ensemble cast featuring notable appearances by Affleck, Post Malone, Fat Joe, Keke Palmer, Trevor Noah, Sofia Vergara, Kim Petras, Jenifer Lewis, Jay Shetty, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Derek Hough. Lopez disclosed that despite skepticism, she remained committed to self-funding the film. Initially, they had secured financing, but unfortunately, it fell through.

Challenges of Celebrity Cameos

During a recent press conference discussing "This Is Me...Now: A Love Story, Lopez revealed that she had to persuade A-listers to make cameo appearances in the film. She noted that managing these cameos presented a significant challenge. Meyers elaborated, explaining that most of the cameo shots were filmed separately, making it the most challenging scene to edit in the entire movie.

Many of them were close friends of the singer, so Lopez had to transition from performer to director, guiding them through the process as they struggled to grasp their roles and navigate the green screen environment, wearing costumes. Meyer remarked, Lopez reassured the actors, urging them to trust her. 

Both This Is Me...Now and its accompanying film, This Is Me...Now: A Love Story, are set for release this Friday on Amazon Prime Video.

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