Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, both nominated for their roles in 2011’s The Help, are set to team up again, this time on a far different project. The duo will star in an untitled buddy holiday comedy from Universal, who outbid Fox and Paramount for the project.
The film is reportedly being sold as a fresh take on Planes, Trains & Automobiles with female leads, although the film is an original script about two women attempting to make it home for Christmas. Kelly Carmichael (Nine) and Chastain herself wrote the original treatment, with Peter Chiarelli (The Proposal) writing the script.
It’s not yet clear how closely this film will actually resemble the 1987 classic comedy that starred Steve Martin and John Candy, with Martin playing an uptight guy on a string of bad luck trying to get home for Thanksgiving, only to run in to Candy’s jovial salesman who hamstrings his attempts to get home.
The film still needs to find a director, but it’s clear that the major studios see this is a hot property considering the major bidding war that occurred. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the film become linked to the 1987 classic in some way considering Hollywood’s current love of tapping into nostalgia, but we’ll wait and see on that front.
#Peace.Love.PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles
