1. Though the concept seemed tailor-made for Gere and Roberts to have their Pretty Woman follow-up, Runaway Bride was actually in the works for over a decade, with many other famous actors set to play the battling bride-to-be (times four) and cynical journalist.
First up? In 1992, Geena Davis and Harrison Ford were set to lead the movie, but it fell apart when the first director brought in had issues with the script. Over the next few years, stars like Michael Douglas, Demi Moore, Ellen DeGeneres and Mel Gibson were all in the mix.
2. But in 1996, Sandra Bullock was interested in playing Maggie and urged the project forward. Until she then had some hesitations–much like Maggie with her suitors–and was out, with Ben Affleck and Tea Leoni in talks to take over, with the studio liking the idea of a younger couple. But when Affleck passed, one of the producers decided to approach Gere.
3. While he loved the script, Gere had one condition the studio had to meet before he signed on to play Ike: “If you can get Julia, I’m in.” Roberts, who had initially been unsure of the movie when she read a previous version of the script years prior, decided to take another look. And after a phone call with her old Pretty Woman leading man, the movie stars were ready to reunite.
“People have been trying to get them back together for nine years,” studio producer Tom Rosenberg told The LA Times. “And suddenly it happened—it was all settled in a week.”
4. The next phone call was one Gere and Roberts would have to make together, as they had to pursue their Pretty Woman director to make the reunion officially complete by directing their love story once again. There was one hitch though, as Marshall had promised to take his wife to Australia for a much-needed vacation.
“They said, ‘Get off the phone, we want to talk to your wife,” Marshall recalled to the publication. “They told her things like, ‘How often do we get a chance to do this?’ and, ‘We’ll take good care of him,’ so finally I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.'”