Reese Witherspoon, one of the romcom queens, has signed on to star in two of them for Netflix, smartly realising that what a lot of us need right now are some cosy comfort movies.
The first project is titled Your Place Or Mine, and will mark the feature directorial debut of The Devil Wears Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna. The veteran writer has also written the script, which focuses on two best friends who change each other’s lives when one volunteers to keep an eye on her teenage son while she pursues a lifelong dream.
For the second project, the streaming giant has acquired the rights to Sarah Haywood‘s bestselling novel The Cactus, in which Witherspoon will play a 45-year-old woman who unexpectedly becomes pregnant, which forces her to rethink the structured life she has created for herself as she begins an unconventional journey toward love, family and self-acceptance.
Witherspoon will produce both films alongside her Hello Sunshine partner Lauren Neustadter. Witherspoon said in a statement:
“We have been looking for the right feature opportunities to collaborate with Ted Sarandos, Scott Stuber and the entire team at Netflix for a while and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with them on these two romantic comedies. Both Sarah Haywood‘s and Aline Brosh McKenna‘s stories blend everything we love about traditional romcoms with strong, smart and determined female leads”.
Witherspoon may be best known for her romantic comedies (Legally Blonde, Just Like Heaven – 2017’s super comfy Home Again) but has settled into TV roles and producing over the last few years. She produced and starred in Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere and The Morning Show in recent years, while also producing films such as Gone Girl and Lucy In The Sky.
This actually won’t be her first time working with Netflix, either. The streaming platform recently won a bidding war for the sci-fi film Pyros, which she will produce alongside Simon Kinberg.
Considering her recent forays into popular book adaptations, Witherspoon seems to know how to read the cultural landscape. And just like how 9/11 led to many actors pivoting to star in comedies in the years directly after the tragedy, she understands that the pandemic (and still challenging post-pandemic world) will lead to audiences seeking comfort. Hopefully these two comedies can provide just that.
#Peace.Love.ReeseWitherspoon
