500 Days of Summer (stylized as (500) Days of Summer) is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and produced by Mark Waters. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel and employs a nonlinear narrative structure, with the story based upon its male protagonist and his memories of a failed relationship. As an independent production, the film was picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight Pictures and premiered at the 25th Sundance Film Festival. It received positive critical reviews and became a successful "sleeper hit", earning over $60 million in worldwide returns, far exceeding its $7.5 million budget. Many critics lauded the film as one of the best from 2009 and drew comparisons to other acclaimed films such as Annie Hall (1977) and High Fidelity (2000). The film received Best Original Screenplay and Best Screenplay awards at the 14th Satellite Awards and 25th Independent Spirit Awards, respectively, as well as two nominations at the 67th Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy (Gordon-Levitt). Plot Tom Hansen is an aspiring architect who works as a writer at a greeting card company. On January 8, he meets Summer Finn, a new employee. They discover that they have a similar taste in music. Later, at a karaoke night for their work, they talk about love. Tom believes in it, but Summer does not. Tom's friend and co-worker McKenzie drunkenly reveals that Tom likes Summer, which he asserts is only "as friends", something Summer agrees with. A few days later, Summer spontaneously kisses Tom in the office. Summer is not looking for a serious relationship. Tom agrees to a casual relationship. That night they have sex; Tom is elated. After several months of dating, they grow closer. Both Tom's friends and his preteen half-sister Rachel push him to ask Summer where they are in their relationship, though Summer brushes this off, saying that it should not matter if they are both happy. One night, Tom gets into a fight with a man who tries to pick Summer up in a bar, causing their first argument. Later, Summer visits Tom; they make up. Tom asks about their relationship, wanting consistency. Summer says she cannot promise him how she would feel in the future. To show him how she currently feels,