Meghan Markle and Prince Harry 'Mounting Last-Ditch Attempt to Crack Hollywood' After String of Showbiz Failures

In mid-December, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's holiday season was made brighter by some very welcome news: The couple is set to produce the upcoming Netflix rom-com The Wedding Date, based on the best-selling 2018 novel by Jasmine Guillory, RadarOnline.com can ​​reveal.

The flick will be penned by Hollywood heavyweight Tracy Oliver, who wrote the 2017 box office smash Girls Trip.

The project couldn't come at a better time for the pair. It's no secret they've struggled to find their professional footing since leaving the royal family in 2020. Success has been especially elusive for Markle, 44, whose numerous endeavors and rebrands have fallen short of expectations.

Her first podcast, Archetypes, was canceled after one season in 2023 and her second, Confessions of a Female Founder, went on hiatus in June; she's also received mixed reviews on her lifestyle brand As Ever and Netflix lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan... which has yet to be renewed for a third season.

A source told RadarOnline.com the former Suits star is "desperate" for a hit and that she and Harry, 41, know how much is riding on their latest venture.

"This is a make-or-break moment," said the source. "Quite simply, this has to work out, or Meghan will be back at the drawing board, and that's putting it politely."

Publicly, Markle puts a positive spin on her setbacks, but privately, she's panicking.

In October, after the duo's $100 million Netflix deal was downgraded to a first-look offer, she called their new agreement "an incredible sign of the strength of our partnership" and was ridiculed for comparing it to a deal made by former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama.

"Meghan insists she has no regrets and that she's happy with the projects she's attached herself to even if they haven't been as well received as she'd have hoped," said the source, "but everyone knows it's been disappointing to endure all these flops and so much criticism from every corner of the internet."

Speaking of criticism, one outlet called Harry's December 3 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – in which he did a reenactment of a viral Great British Bake Off meme – an "embarrassment" and "cringeworthy," while Meghan's punning and lackluster tips on her holiday special had viewers' eyes rolling.

A light and sexy rom-com is a departure from the more serious topics she attempted to broach on her podcasts, which Markle hopes will finally turn her Hollywood career around.

With her name recognition, says the source, she's confident she'll be able to sign top talent for The Wedding Day – even though there are whispers that Oliver (who also wrote The Blackening and created BET's popular series The First Wives Club) is more likely the draw for any A-listers.

"Meghan's bristling with confidence," said the source. "She believes that with Netflix backing her, casting won't be an issue."

With her rep as "Duchess Difficult," however, there are concerns the California native will be too hands-on.

"There's a lot of talk within Netflix that Meghan's controlling ways could ultimately doom this project," said the source.

The mom of two made headlines in November, for example, after she and Harry attended Kris Jenner's star-studded 70th birthday bash and later requested Jenner and her daughter Kim Kardashian, remove photos of them from their post-party Instagram posts.

"It was a slap in the face," a source told RadarOnline.com of the scandal – dubbed "photo-gate" – at the time.

Then there was the backlash Markle faced over her Harper's Bazaar cover story, in which the writer revealed that the former royal was formally announced as "Meghan, Duchess of Sussex" by a staffer, even though they were alone in a friend's NYC home.

"Meghan will need to be more down-to-earth and less intense for this to work out," added the source.