The movie stars Charlie Day and Jenny Slate as a pair of jilted lovers who vow to help each other win back their ex-partners. I Want You Back is written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger who are best known for their work on Love, Simon, This Is Us and How I Met Your Father.

The writing duo sat down with Newsweek to discuss the launch of their new movie, the wonders of Day and Slate as their leads, and they also shared intel on the final season of This Is Us.

Valentine’s Day movie

While I Want You Back deals with a pair of savage break-ups, it’s still an ideal movie for anyone looking for a Valentine’s Day movie, according to Aptaker.

He told Newsweek: “Whether you’re in a relationship, single, recently dumped, recently dumped someone, there’s something for everyone in here.

“And while the world is still such a wild, scary place, to have something waiting for you at home to cozy up to this Valentine’s Day weekend, I think it’s the perfect release for the movie,” Aptaker said.

Berger told Newsweek why the pair, who have predominantly worked in TV in recent years, decided to create a fresh romcom movie. “I think we always loved the genre and we were very attracted to figuring out one that both men and women would really enjoy together, and that would genuinely make you laugh,” Berger said.

“Then we just sort of had this notion of what if you had two people scheming in a movie, but instead of the sexy cool people that you usually see concocting schemes, it was people like us. People like our friends, people who would really just kind of bumble their way through it very messily and without any grace.” Berger added, “That really made us laugh.”

The two “bumbling” schemers seen in I Want You Back are two modern comedy favorites: Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day, and Jenny Slate whose credits include Parks and Recreation, and Big Mouth. The supporting cast features Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) and Scott Eastwood (The Fate of The Furious).

Both writers were full of praise for the casting of Day and Slate as the two leads in I Want You Back. “They’re just so funny and bring so much to these characters,” Aptaker said, “The unexpected moments that that came out of their chemistry and them being in these scenes together are some of my favorite parts of the movie.”

Finishing This Is Us

Aptaker and Berger have become integral writers for the tear-jerking drama This Is Us, and are once again contributing to the sixth and final season.

Season 6 started airing in early 2022, and is set to wrap up its 18 episode arc later this year.

Berger says all of the pairs current efforts are going into giving This Is Us a satisfying ending. “We are really focused on giving these characters the beautiful conclusion that they deserve. Isaac and I just wrote the 100th episode of the show, which we’ll start producing on Friday, I believe, on set.”

She continued, “I think it will be excruciatingly difficult to say goodbye but we also feel like we’ve reached a point where we’ve reached a really lovely natural ending, and we’re just sort of excited to fulfill that.”

Aptaker added, “We want to land this plane and make sure it’s as strong of an ending as possible that the fans deserve.”

This Is Us continues on NBC after the Winter Olympics, with Episode 6 airing on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.

I Want You Back is now available to stream on Prime Video.