Patrick Dempsey, the hunky doctor in the series Grey’s Anatomy , is joining the cast for the romantic comedy Valentine’s Day , a film which, considering its cast and director (Garry Marshall, maker of Pretty Woman ), promises to be the comedy of the next season.

The producers have managed to bring together some of the biggest names in Hollywood: Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Shirley MacLaine, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Topher Grace, Emma Roberts and Hector Elizondo. Also joining the cast will be Eric Dane, who we’ve seen in Marley & Me and who has also, by the way, participated in Grey’s Anatomy, playing Dr. Mark Sloan, Dempsey’s best friend.

Filming began this week in Los Angeles, and will follow five interconnected stories which take place on St. Valentine’s Day.

An army officer (Roberts) leaves Iraq to go to Los Angeles on a flight on which a homosexual (Cooper) is also on board. A flower shop owner (Kutcher) proposes marriage to his girlfriend (Alba) while, in reality, he’s in love with her friend (Garner). A retired woman whose husband has cheated on her (MacLaine) also appears, along with a talent scout (Hathaway), in love with a postman, and there’s a publicist (Biel), who can’t find love and is alone on Valentine’s Day.

Finally, Dempsey will be an obstetrician who is married and has a relationship with Garner’s character, without her knowing that he’s married. And Dane will be a quarterback who is having serious doubts about retiring.