How many Richard Gere & Julia Roberts Movies are there?

Richard Gere & Julia Roberts

In his career, Richard Gere has starred opposite some seriously attractive women and occasionally appeared with them in more than one movie. With Kim Basinger, he starred in 2 movies “No Mercy” and “Final Analysis”, with Diane Lane he starred in 3 movies together “The Cotton Club”, “Unfaithful” and “Nights in Rodanthe”. And to answer my titular question, “How many Richard Gere & Julia Roberts Movies are there?” well so far there are 2: “Pretty Woman” and “Runaway Bride”.

Pretty Woman (1990)

Whilst in LA on a business trip, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) finds himself lost and asks a hooker he spots, Vivian (Julia Roberts) for directions. Not only does Vivian give him directions she ends up driving him there when it becomes apparent that Edward can’t drive a fancy sports car. Well, one thing leads to another and Vivian ends up spending the night with Edward in the penthouse suite of a swanky Beverly Hills hotel. Having fallen for Vivian’s bubbly personality Edward proposes that she spends the week with him, a purely business proposal where she would keep him company as he attends various meals and functions. But as the week goes on it soon becomes apparent that their business relationship is much more personal as they fall for each other but how can a hooker and a millionaire businessman ever work out especially when Edward’s week in LA comes to an end.

There is no doubt that “Pretty Woman” has earned a place in many people’s hearts with its fun fairytale storyline, memorable scenes, and the pairing of Richard Gere & Julia Roberts in their first movie together. It may be lightweight fluff, it may be a little cheesy but it delivers what the public wants and that is to be whisked away into a world of fairytale style romance.

Although “Pretty Woman” nearly never happened or at least the “Pretty Woman” we know nearly never happened. Not only were there plenty of other stars up for the roles of Edward and Vivian before Richard Gere & Julia Roberts was cast but the storyline was also different. It was originally intended to be a dark drama about prostitutes in LA, with Vivian not only a hooker but also a drug addict. Now that would have been a very different “Pretty Woman”.

Runaway Bride (1999)

Having heard about a woman, Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts), who keeps getting Wedding Day jitters and running before she says “I Do”, New York Columnist Ike Graham (Richard Gere) decides to write a piece about her in his column. When Maggie discovers what Ike has written about her she contacts his editor demanding action and an apology leading him to fire Ike. Less than happy for being booted from his job, Ike tracks Maggie down to the small town where she lives intent on finding the truth. But not only does he discover that Maggie is preparing to go down the aisle yet again he also discovers that he has feelings for her.

Whilst an entertaining movie “Runaway Bride” is not a patch on “Pretty Woman” with a weaker, almost dafter storyline which is saved by the wonderful chemistry of Richard Gere & Julia Roberts. It has some fun moments, it has some romance but it all feels rather average, especially in comparison to “Pretty Woman”.

Strangely because “Runaway Bride” features the pairing of Richard Gere & Julia Roberts people think it was devised for the sole purpose of reuniting the stars in another fun romantic comedy. The truth is that “Runaway Bride” had been in development for over a decade before it was released and in that time a long list of star names had been attached to the project including Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson for the role of Ike and Geena Davis, Demi Moore, Sandra Bullock and even Ellen DeGeneres for the role of Maggie. In the end, Richard Gere & Julia Roberts were reunited and it is their chemistry that makes it work.

As it stands “Pretty Woman” and “Runaway Bride” are the only movies which Richard Gere & Julia Roberts have made together but as the pairing works I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point we see a third Richard Gere & Julia Roberts movie.

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