Vertigo Films Taps Scribes Behind Sundance Hit ‘Rye Lane’ For Original Rom-Com Road Movie ‘The Whole Hog’

Hot off the heels of their Sundance premiere of Rye Lane, writers Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia have teamed up with Vertigo Films for their next romantic comedy The Whole Hog.

The project follows a newly broken up couple who are forced to temporarily reconcile their differences and travel the food festivals and markets of Britain together as they try and make a success of the food truck that they sunk their savings into before they split up.

Bryon and Melia are currently preparing for the release of youthful Brit pic Rye Lane for Searchlight Pictures, which opened to rave reviews in Sundance last month. Deadline’s Anna Smith described the Raine Allen Miller-directed pic as a “delight” and a “sunny, irreverent take on life and love”

The Whole Hog, which is produced by Vertigo’s Allan Niblo, will apply the same razor sharp and freewheeling insights into relationships as Rye Lane (which was also compared to Before Sunrise in Deadline’s review) and aims to be a modern, diverse and vibrant rom-com peppered with England’s beautiful countryside and foodie scene.

Vertigo Films recently had success in the genre with its project This Is Christmas, directed by Chris Foggin and starring Alfred Enoch, Kaya Scodelario and Timothy Spall, which was released on Sky Cinema and Epix (now MGM+) last year.

The Federation Studios-backed production outfit is currently in post-production on Nick Love’s 1980s crime thriller A Town Called Malice for Sky Max, which will release later this year.

“We were deep in post on another romantic comedy when Tom and Nathan brought the idea for The Whole Hog to us and we jumped immediately,” said Niblo. “With authentic characters, heartfelt story and an incredibly enticing world, the potential for a classic is all there and it’s easy to see why Rye Lane is going down a storm. This story will take us on a tour of festivities across the country with a couple that all of us can root for, and we can’t wait to bring that to the screen.”