Will Katherine Heigl spawn a franchise with 'One for the Money'?

By Sarah Sluis

Back when I watched "Grey's Anatomy," Katherine Heigl was one of the series' most compelling performers. Her star personality oozed warmth and accessibility. But then everything in the press started turning against her. She trashed the film Knocked Up for being sexist, a move many found both unprofessional and ungrateful. She dropped out of Valentine's Day due to a salary dispute, and similar sparring led to her demise on "Grey's Anatomy." There were rumors going around that she needed a different leading man to star with her in each film because no one would work with her again. Then her latest film, One for the Money, had numerous release date changes. Pushed from the summer lineup, it's now going for a January 27, 2012, release date. Yes, the January doldrums. Last year, a couple films released to modest success, like No Strings Attached ($70 million) and The Green Hornet ($98 million), but it's certainly not the place one would imagine positioning a budding franchise.

The trailer for Heigl's One for the Money released this week, giving viewers a first glimpse of Heigl as the best-selling Stephanie Plum character. Heigl sports an on-and-off Jersey accent and the plot is unexpectedly blue-collar. Plum is a lingerie saleswoman who is laid off and finds work as a bail bondswoman. One of her first missions is tracking down an ex for whom she still has feelings. It's surprisingly trashy, from her abrasive, done-up co-worker to seeing Sherri Shepherd ("The View") play a hungry, hungry hooker.

Despite the delays and Heigl's tainted image, could this movie be the first in a franchise? Female-driven films have done surprisingly well at the box office lately. One for the Money is based on a series of books by Janet Evanovich that has sold millions of copies. While plenty of male-driven pulp series have been turned into action and crime franchises, the same hasn't happened for female-targeted series. One for the Money could surprise, as long as it's not a stinker. That's one scent that spoils the word-of-mouth that female-driven films rely on. The trailer, sadly, does not exclude that possibility.

Writing duo Lutz & Smith to tackle remake of 'Best Little Whorehouse'

By Sarah Sluis

I've had a soft spot for writing team Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith ever since I perused the audio commentary of Legally Blonde. The duo talked about visiting Southern California sorority houses as research for their screenplay. I can only imagine what kind of research they'll embark on when they write the remake of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

The 1982 original (based on a 1978 Broadway play) starred Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds as a madam and a sheriff who unite against a preacher trying to shut the town brothel down. Since the original story drew inspiration from the famous Chicken Ranch brothel in Texas, I wouldn't be surprised if the remake, described as a "complete overhaul," opts to set the movie in the Las Vegas/Nevada area, which tolerates prostitution.

Lutz and Smith have an impressive track record. While working within the romantic comedy genre, which misses the mark much more often than it hits it, they've churned out solid movies. They generally hew to the familiar formulas of romantic comedies, but have better details, dialogue, and nuance that helps them rise to the top of the heap. 10 Things I Hate About You (Rotten Tomatoes 56%) and Legally Blonde (67%) are two of my favorites, and Ella Enchanted (50%) had positive word-of-mouth. Though The House Bunny (39%) was a bit of a retread of Legally Blonde, it entertained--and who ever heard of a movie about an ex-Playboy Bunny getting two out of five critics to like it? I had thought She's the Man (44%) had received poor reviews, but it actually just did poorly at the box office--a tiny $33 million. By comparison, the 14%-rated The Ugly Truth, the worst of the bunch (which I haven't seen), brought in a healthy $88 million.

While these are by no means stellar aggregates, the romantic comedy genre is more likely to have sub-20% ratings like When in Rome (17%) or Leap Year (21%). These movies weren't just poorly reviewed, they also did terribly at the box office, disliked equally by audiences. Of the Lutz/Smith movies I have seen and enjoyed, they all include strong plotlines NOT involving the character's romance. Legally Blonde is actually mainly about a character's transformation and self-discovery, and getting a man at the end is really just the cherry on top. 10 Things I Hate About You has plenty of sibling rivalry and astute observations about high school life.

Lutz and Smith have a movie coming out this summer, an action comedy called Killers starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. After reading the more male-centered plot description which described an ex-assassin who has settled down with his wife when he discovers he is being hunted down, I was surprised that the trailer (which released today) had a strong alliance with Heigl. In the preview, she goes through a fairly entertaining "Oh-my-goodness-I-married-an-assassin" realization. On June 4th, we'll see if Lutz and Smith can keep up their better-than-average reputation.