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Sleepless in Seattle is a 1993 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, from a screenplay she wrote with David S. Ward and Jeff Arch. Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the film follows a journalist (Ryan) who becomes enamored with a widowed architect (Hanks), when the latter's son calls in to a talk radio program requesting a new partner for his grieving father. 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. Inspired by director Leo McCarey's An Affair to Remember (1957), which itself was a same-script remake of McCarey's Love Affair (1939), Sleepless in Seattle was conceived as a romantic drama by Arch in 1989. Several studios rejected his script, deterred by the idea that its main couple does not meet for nearly the entire film. Ward and Ephron were among several writers hired to re-write the script into a funnier film, with Ephron eventually being promoted to director. Although both Hanks and Ryan had been favored for the lead roles from the beginning, several other actors expressed interest in both parts. The film was shot mostly in Seattle during summer 1992. 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. 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. The film received 2 nominations at the 66th Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Song. 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 $227.9 million worldwide. It was one of the highest-grossing films of 1993, and remains one of the most successful romantic comedies in box-office history. The soundtrack was also successful, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200. Several critics and media publications agree that Sleepless in Seattle is one of the greatest romantic comedy films of all time. The film is also credited with establishing Ephron as a celebrated romantic comedy filmmaker. Plot Sam Baldwin, a recently-widowed Chicago architect, moves to Seattle with his eight-year-old son, Jonah, to start a new life. 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 his wife, Maggie. Thousands of women from around the country hear the program and, touched by the story, write to Sam. One listener is Annie Reed, a Baltimore Sun reporter. She is engaged to Walter, but feels something is missing from their relationship. After watching An Affair to Remember, Annie writes Sam a letter suggesting they meet atop the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. She decides against mailing it, but her friend and editor, Becky, mails it, and later agrees to send Annie to Seattle on a story assignment after she has done some research on Sam via a detective agency. Sam begins dating a co-worker, Victoria, whom Jonah dislikes. When Jonah reads Annie's letter, he instinctively feels that she could 'be the one but is unable to convince Sam to meet Annie in New York on Valentine's Day. Jonah's friend Jessica, whose mother is a travel agent, urges him to reply to Annie, agreeing to the New York meeting. While dropping Victoria off at the airport, Sam glimpses Annie exiting her plane and is mesmerized by her, though unaware who she is. Later, Annie secretly watches Sam and Jonah playing on the beach together. The next day she goes to Sam's houseboat. From across the street she sees Sam's sister Suzy, and assumes she is his girlfriend. A passing vehicle nearly hits Annie and honks at her. Sam recognizes her from the airport and says, "hello." Annie also says "hello" before quickly leaving. After returning to Baltimore, Annie goes to New York to meet Walter for Valentine's Day. With Jessica's help, Jonah books a flight to New York and goes to the Empire State Building to find Annie on Valentine's Day. When Sam discovers this, he immediately follows and finds Jonah on the Empire observation deck. Meanwhile, Annie sees the skyscraper from where she and Walter are dining. She confesses her doubts to him and they amicably end their engagement. Annie rushes to the Empire State Building and arrives on the observation deck just moments after Sam and Jonah have gone down in the elevator. Annie discovers Jonah's backpack. When Sam and Jonah return to retrieve it, Sam recognizes Annie again. Annie takes Sam's hand and the three leave together, as Jonah smiles when the elevator doors close. Cast Production Origins and development In 1989, Sleepless in Seattle was conceived by Jeff Arch, a struggling writer and former cinematographer who was working as an English and taekwondo teacher at the time. Arch had experienced little to no success as a writer prior to Sleepless in Seattle. Sleepless in Seattle was Arch's first script to be optioned as a film. The story began as a play about two people falling in love over the telephone without meeting in person. Arch decided that, unlike typical romance plots in which the main characters bicker for most of the film after they "meet cute", his couple would not meet until the end of the film, feeling unprecedented confidence that Sleepless in Seattle would be successful as long as he "got these people to the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day". The writer drew inspiration from several sources, including the French film And Now My Love (1974), a seminar by motivational speaker Tony Robbins, and a Washington Post article he had read about women hiring private investigators to uncover information about their romantic partners. Arch faced criticism about the unlikelihood of the film being made due to the lack of scenes shared by its lead couple. He pitched the film to at least six studios and executives, all of whom rejected it for similar reasons. Desperate, Arch's agent Dave Warden submitted the spec script to producer Gary Foster in 1990. Although Foster typically discards new scripts that fail to captivate him within its first 25 pages, he claims to have read past the 25th page of Arch's script unnoticed, only to find he was crying by the last page. Immediately noticing the script's potential, Foster submitted the script to TriStar Pictures executive Richard Fischoff, whose studio had produced all of his previous films. At first, Fischoff's staff screened the script and passed on it. After pleading from Foster, Fischoff eventually relented and read the script, optioning it to TriStar a fe.... Discover the Michael Schwartz Olga Massov popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Michael Schwartz Olga Massov books.