She later secretly watches Sam and Jonah playing on the beach together. While dropping Victoria off at the airport for a flight, Sam sees Annie exiting from her plane and is mesmerized by her, although he has no idea who she is. At the urging of his friend Jessica, Jonah replies to her, agreeing to the New York meeting. When Jonah reads Annie's letter addressed to both of them, he instinctively feels that she could 'be the one,' (it mentions the Baltimore Orioles), but he fails to convince his father to go to New York on Valentine's Day to meet Annie.

Sam begins dating a co-worker, Victoria, whom Jonah dislikes. She decides not to mail it, but her friend and editor Becky does it for her and later agrees to send Annie to Seattle. After watching the film An Affair to Remember, Annie writes a letter suggesting that Sam meet her on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. One of the listeners is Annie Reed, a Baltimore Sun reporter who is engaged to Walter, but feels there is something missing from their relationship. Thousands of women from around the country hear the program and are touched by the story and write to Sam.

A year later on Christmas Eve, Jonah calls in to a radio talk show and persuades a reluctant Sam to go on the air to talk about how much he misses Maggie. The film is also credited with establishing Ephron as a celebrated romantic comedy filmmaker.Ĭhicago architect Sam Baldwin loses his wife Maggie to cancer, and he and their eight-year-old son Jonah start a new life in Seattle, but they continue to mourn. Several critics and media publications agree that Sleepless in Seattle is one of the greatest romantic comedy films of all time. The soundtrack was also successful, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200. It was one of the highest-grossing films of 1993, and remains one of the most successful romantic comedies in box office history. Despite competition from several blockbusters released around that same summer, the film was a surprise commercial success, earning $17 million during its opening weekend (the highest opening for a romantic comedy at the time), and ultimately grossing over $227 million worldwide. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards at the 1994 ceremony: Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Song. Sleepless in Seattle was released on June 25, 1993, to positive reviews, receiving praise for Ephron's writing and direction, as well as Hanks and Ryan's performances. Several of its most pivotal scenes were filmed on a former naval base due to the city's lack of sound stages, including a recreation of the Empire State Building's observation deck when the New York skyscraper was not available.

The film was shot mostly in Seattle during the summer of 1992. Although both Hanks and Ryan had been favored for the lead roles from the beginning, several other actors expressed interest in both parts, while Hanks often disagreed with Ephron over his character's material. Ward and Ephron were among several writers hired to re-write the script into a funnier film, with Ephron eventually being promoted to director once Nick Castle departed over disagreeing with her comedic approach. Foster strongly believed in the film's potential but struggled to get it made by TriStar Pictures for several years, finding its emotional script promising but unsophisticated. Arch submitted his script to producer Gary Foster in 1990. Several studios rejected his script, deterred by the idea that its main couple does not meet for nearly the entire film. Inspired by the romance film An Affair to Remember (1957), Sleepless in Seattle was conceived as a romantic drama by Arch in 1989. In addition to Bill Pullman, Ross Malinger, and Rob Reiner, the film features an ensemble supporting cast also consisting of Rosie O'Donnell, Gaby Hoffmann, Victor Garber, Rita Wilson, Barbara Garrick, and Carey Lowell. Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the film follows a journalist (Ryan) who, despite being newly engaged, becomes enamored with a recently widowed architect (Hanks), when the latter's son calls in to a talk radio program requesting a new partner for his grieving father. Sleepless in Seattle is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Nora Ephron, from a screenplay she wrote with David S.

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