By Sarah Sluis
A couple of promising female-oriented titles have moved ahead in production, hopefully a sign that producers have responded to the box-office votes made by the droves of women who turned out for Sex and the City.
Tautou in Chanel
Chanel biopic Coco Avant Chanel, planned with French darling Audrey Tautou in the starring role, now has Warner Brothers on board to produce and distribute in the United States. Taking a cue from the prominent role of couture in SATC, the production's second move was to sign on famed Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld to consult on the costuming. While I have always been drawn to Tautou's pixie-like face onscreen, not her clothing or figure, a Chanel suit can only add to her film presence.
Swank Buys, not Borrows
Emily Giffin's best-selling chick-lit novels Something Borrowed and Something Blue have been acquired by Hilary Swank's production company. The books themselves were mashed potatoes�comforting and predictable pleasures. With the right cast and scripting, I think this project could be become more than the instant Kate Hudson-Matthew McConaughey vehicle.
The first book has the best friend/maid-of-honor "borrowing" the groom, justified by the sympathetic portrayal of the best friend and the downright narcissistic behavior of the bridezilla. The second book puts us in the shoes of the now knocked-up, cuckolded and humbled bridezilla as she learns to care for someone beside herself�barely. Because the bridezilla character is so detestable in the first book, and only becomes endearing at the turning point of the second book, I hope they do not plan on combining the books together, as the same production company did when adapting the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. Even with the novels separated into two films, the plot will pose a challenge for casting, as they will have to find an actor able to play the bitch and then carry the second film as the heroine. Plus, the heroine is pregnant and falls in love�but given the recent spate of films on that subject, I would no longer red-flag this element of the plot. As for the male lead? Well, they could always choose Colin Firth.
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