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鈥淭he Intern,鈥� the newest film directed by Nancy Meyers, opens on Sept. 24 and centers on a retiree who works as an intern at a fashion company run by a young woman.

The film stars Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway and those who know Ms. Meyers best from her past hits like 鈥淚t鈥檚 Complicated,鈥� which stars Meryl Streep as a woman romantically involved with characters played by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, and 鈥淲hat Women Want,鈥� which stars Mel Gibson as a man who falls in love with his co-worker (Helen Hunt), may be surprised by the platonic relationship at the center of the film.

But Meyers, who also wrote 鈥淚ntern," 鈥淐omplicated鈥� and the romantic comedies 鈥淭he Holiday,鈥� and 鈥淪omething鈥檚 Gotta Give,鈥� recently she didn鈥檛 want to write another romantic relationship. 鈥淚 felt sort of done with the romantic story,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t just wasn鈥檛 what I was feeling. And I felt I鈥檇 covered that subject pretty well: to fall in love, and out of love, and be divorced, be [鈥楬oliday鈥� star] Cameron Diaz鈥檚 age, or be Meryl Streep鈥檚 age. So I thought, A relationship between a man and a woman that鈥檚 not romantic, this is interesting. I鈥檝e never done that.鈥�

As Meyers looks at a non-romantic relationship in her movie, it鈥檚 been several years since a romantic comedy became a huge hit at the box office. The newest film to be in the of the highest-grossing romantic comedies of all time domestically is 2009鈥檚 鈥淭he Proposal.鈥� 2005鈥檚 鈥淗itch,鈥� 2007鈥檚 鈥淜nocked Up,鈥� and 2008鈥檚 鈥淪ex and the City鈥� (which also came with viewers鈥� pre-awareness of the TV show) are also on there. But otherwise, all the other movies are clustered during the 1990s or the beginning of the 2000s.

However, we are coming off a summer where a traditional romantic comedy just became a hit. Amy Schumer鈥檚 鈥淭rainwreck,鈥� which she starred in and wrote, was one of the success stories of the summer. But a lot of films in the genre have missed recently rather than hit. This year鈥檚 鈥淭he Longest Ride鈥� and 鈥淎loha鈥� didn鈥檛 do well financially, nor did 2014鈥檚 鈥淭hat Awkward Moment,鈥� 鈥淎bout Last Night,鈥� 鈥淓ndless Love,鈥� 鈥淏lended,鈥� and 鈥淭hink Like a Man Too.鈥�

Perhaps audiences are looking for something different from the genre. Romantic comedy films that have done well recently all have a slight twist on the genre. (As Meyers herself noted, in 鈥淭rainwreck,鈥� 鈥淸director Judd Apatow] and Amy聽turned it on its ear by switching the roles 鈥� he falls in love, she can鈥檛 commit.鈥�) In 鈥淧roposal,鈥� Ryan Reynolds鈥� character falls in love with his boss, played by Sandra Bullock, and the two get engaged at the beginning of the film, before they鈥檙e in love. 2005鈥檚 鈥淗itch鈥� stars Will Smith as a coach to men in relationships who then finds he can鈥檛 conduct himself well when he鈥檚 involved in a relationship of his own.

With Meyers seemingly taking a break from the genre, if romantic comedies will get made over the next few years, others will have to take up the slack.