'Friends With Benefits' Filmmakers Hope To Break The Rom-Com Mold

By Michael Lopez

Believe it or not, between the Green Lantern blockbusters and Super 8 aliens, there is still room for some romantic comedies this summer. And director Will Gluck and writers Keith Merryman and David Newman hope fans will embrace the genre with their upcoming movie Friends With Benefits (particularly since they are labeling it an "anti-rom com"). We recently had the chance to talk to all three of them at a recent press junket for the film.

"We wanted to write an R-Rated, anti-romantic comedy," Newman explained. "Friends With Benefits was born out of all the frustrated single girls out there."

Writing partners Merryman and Newman are hot commodities in Hollywood right now. Outside of Benefits they are working on projects for Katherine Heigl and the Starz network. But, as Merryman went on to explain, they've always wanted to create a uniquely "modern" love story.

"We wanted this movie to be as real as it could be," he said. "People don't believe in marriage anymore, a lot of people really don’t."

Will Gluck seems to wholeheartedly agree. The young director is still fresh off his Emma Stone hit Easy A and feels like Friends With Benefits is a natural progression for his audience.

"In Easy A, I wanted people to leave the theater and go to their Xbox," Gluck stated. "With Friends With Benefits, I want people to leave the theater and have at it with each other."

After hearing Will's stories from the set, it's easy to be envious of his position. For several days straight, he got to shoot hot-and-heavy sex scenes with stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. And he makes no apologies for it, happily embracing Friends' R-Rating.

"We had to make this an R movie," he said. "Because you can't talk about sex and not make it an R. Of course, I didn't want to take it into that Red Shoe Diaries territory."

One other big question that came up among the filmmakers was the undeniable comparison to Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman's recent flick, No Strings Attached. Gluck was quick to downplay the similarities, declaring that each movie can definitely stand alone.

"I think they're two very different movies," he said. "People have sex all the time, it's not that gigantic of a concept."

You can judge for yourself when Friends With Benefits hits theaters, Friday July 22.

Are you planning to watch Friends With Benefits? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Blogger: Michael Lopez, David Newman, Exclusive Entrevistas, Friends With Benefits, Justin Timberlake, Keith Merryman, Mila Kunis, Movies & CineMás, Tr3s Exclusives, Will Gluck