Here are some photos of a very pregnant Reese Witherspoon with daughter Ava Phillipe outside a nail salon, and it’s very clear that Reese is at that stage of pregnancy when only airy, breezy dresses make sense. I just feel for her being at this late stage in the summertime because pregnancy already makes you feel hot enough without actual raised temperatures to add to the physical pressure.
Meanwhile, Reese continues to plot her post-baby career comeback, and we’ve already heard that her husband, Jim Toth, will be managing her career in the future. So far, the signs have not been encouraging with Reese signing on to film a Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus adaptation, but there might be a little bit of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. 20th Century Fox just purchased the film rights to Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Reese has signed on as a producer. At this stage in Reese’s (romcom heavy) career, one wonders if she is also planning to star in the movie, which would be an abrupt departure from what she’s done in the past several years:
It seems like just about everyone’s talking about Gillian Flynn’s latest novel, Gone Girl, and naturally the property’s film rights became a major get. Per Deadline, 20th Century Fox is the winning studio, as they apparently acquired the rights for an amount in the range of seven figures. Pacific Standard’s Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea will produce alongside Leslie Dixon. The book centers a man whose wife disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary, only to have all roads point to him as the woman’s killer. No word on whether Witherspoon would also star in Gone Girl, but she’s got a pretty full plate of upcoming projects at the moment.
Flynn will be handling the screenplay herself, and the author has two other feature film adaptations in development. Amy Adams is attached to star in Dark Places, with Gilles Paquet-Brenner directing, and Paranormal Activity guru Jason Blum is producing Sharp Objects.
[From Collider]
I’m reading Gone Girl right now — it came out about a month ago, but I had to set it aside immediately after purchase after Goop recommended it in one of her peasanty newsletters. Nothing kills anticipation like Goop, you know? But I got over myself and just started the book, and if it turns out anything like Gillian Flynn’s other novels, and I honestly can’t see Reese pulling off a gritty thriller like this. Earlier on in her career, she pulled off some diverse roles including the similarly-toned Fear, but now? I think Reese has lost perspective after doing so many big-budget studio movies and, yes, all of those romcoms. Maybe Reese plans on sticking with strictly producing, or maybe she’ll just pop in for a bit role like she did when she produced Penelope. Regardless of Reese’s plans, I remain a huge Flynn fan and am thrilled to learn that Amy Adams will be playing Libby Day in Dark Places.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet
I’m only about halfway through Gone Girl right now (know the ending though), but I can’t see Reese in that role either. Haven’t really thought about who I *could* see do it, but not her.
I actually like Reese in films where she has to be a little darker, a little more edgy or cynical–not such a fan of her in romcoms.
I think in general that actors have to have intelligence to play darker or more wry, cynical characters, and Reese has smarts in spades.
I think Reese would be a brilliant choice for this book! It would be a good decision on her part.
I haven’t read the book but I don’t think Reese is right for anything described as “gritty”.
It’s hard for me to get behind actresses that gravitate towards the incredibly insulting “rom com” genre. I know some people find these movies fun, but they’re so often ridiculously unintelligent and laden with the worst sort of gender stereotypes imaginable.
I get that these actresses just want a steady paycheck and I really blame Hollywood for spoon-feeding brainless junk to female audiences and limiting the number of interesting roles for females. And yes, good romantic comedies DO actually exist, they are just few and far between.
I don’t think we, as women, can hold Hollywood responsible. I think we have to look inward for the responsible party for the sh*tty films and TV shows that get presented as entertainment for women. If we, collectively, decided to stop consuming crappy rom-coms and reality TV, the entertainment business would stop producing it. They are making it because we willingly consume it.
I put the tagline for the “Bachelor Pad” on my Facebook with a comment correlating the sinking feeling with my IQ dropping,and I’m pretty sure I’m losing friends over it. The standards we have set should be disturbing to intelligent women.
Well, I do my part by actively avoiding the rom com genre entirely. I guess I meant that if a woman says that a rom com is just for “fun” and it’s about “escapism” for them then who am I to judge? I just look for something more substantial from the movies I choose to watch.
Hollywood is to blame in the sense that they love sh*t like rom coms because they are cheap to make and they know there will always be an audience for them. In that sense, it’s a sh*tty business that’s more focused on money-making than actually challenging their audiences.
Based on just the trailers alone, I can’t see the attraction of that insipid crap but I also don’t see the appeal of a lot of low-brow slapstick comedies that so many people (male and female) seem to enjoy so much.
PS-That’s why I hate Facebook by the way-it’s nowhere near as much fun as it would be if we didn’t have to always worry about offending people.
See, I have no trouble judging when we are still making $0.77 on the dollar. Women surged forward in the 20th Century, but instead of continuing to push the envelope, we are allowing ourselves to be encased is a cherished cocoon of pink cotton candy, masquerading as freedom. The idea of escapism is all well and good, except these films promote unrealistic romantic expectations in our youth and foster a “women need to be rescued from their lives” approach to relationships that is unhealthy for both sexes. If there were more strong, intelligent female leads who fell in love with intelligent, independent men, and both characters were well-rounded BEFORE they got together-that’s worth escapism. But when you have “Bella Swan” being hailed as an acceptable role model by commenters on this very blog (see any of the original Twilight posts)…we’re so far from the finish line, we might as well be starting over. I don’t believe we can afford to be complacent.
I don’t disagree with your assessment at all. I guess where I disagree is the amount of influence these sh*tty movies actually have.
I feel that if a woman is looking to “The Wedding Planner” or “Failure to Launch” or “Any Other Matthew McConaughey” movie as a relationship model then she probably isn’t the most grounded individual to begin with.
Also, if we put that level of criticism on rom coms then we need to put the same amount of pressure on other genres (for instance-is Adam Sandler’s character in Billy Madison a good role model for men?) and then that kind of limits the creative freedom and diversity of movies in general.
I agree that rom coms suck, but I don’t see the value in empowering the genre by making its influence seem more relevant than it really is.
I agree with you as well-the movie industry churns out sh*tty comedies and we consume them. But young white men observing Billy Madison or any Kevin James character aren’t going into the movie in the same position as a young woman watching [insert BS romcom here]. I just think as a group that is still lagging in many ways, women, and perhaps even more particularly WOC, have a responsibility to demand better. Our pocketbooks drive a large sector, between what our kids watch and what we watch. We are accountable for spending the money on those movies. There is a large, impressionable group of young women who need smart, funny books, movies, and TV shows with good role models, and they are getting very few of them. I have had 3 teenage nieces staying with me all week, and it might be why I’m so up in arms. They are smart, they are funny, and they are talented-and they are gorgeous. And I have to remind myself to engage their brains and talk about their opinions, and not just tell them how pretty they are. Our society has created a value system that is tied to young and pretty-and there is so much more there. One of my nieces and I got into a really in-depth discussion about sanctions vs. legal action after her uncle and I went back and forth at lunch in front of her, and it was so cool because she came back today and asked me more questions about it. Made my Grinch heart grow three sizes. I just want them to read books and watch movies with highly developed characters. They don’t have to be perfect, they don’t have to be moral. In fact, I hope they aren’t. I prefer my characters with flaws and mistakes. I just don’t want them to think that life is like the movies that are targeting their “demographic.”
Believe me-I agree with you. Keep those smart young ladies away from 50 Shades of Grey 🙂
But actually, 50 Shades is kind of an example of what seems to appeal to the female masses. Full disclosure: I’ve never read the book but it looks and sounds like the kind of low-brow crap that isn’t going to require much brain-power. Again, one would hope that as women, we would want more, but that isn’t always the case. I will also say that no one in my immediate circle of friends has read 50 Shades just like none of them would ever pay to see a rom com.
Maybe I just have a general lack of faith and resignation when it comes to what my gender seems to find appealing. The friends on Facebook that keep posting about 50 Shades aren’t people that I could really have an intellectual conversation with so their choices for entertainment seem to reflect that. Some people (men and women alike) just have no real interest in stretching their minds. Again, this isn’t a way of guaging intelligence. I’ve known many smart women who just don’t like to get too “deep” with either their entertainment choices or their conversations with others.
EDIT: No offense to women that watch rom coms or read 50 Shades-as I said, different strokes for different folks.
Don’t even get me started on the 50 Shades thing. While I understand where you are coming from when you say no offense, and I totally never want to drag anyone down with me, if I’m offending people, I’m fine with it. Perhaps, if they are offended, it might just give them pause, maybe just for one moment. Women shot E.L. James Twilight fanfic to the top of the heap, and embraced the love affair that, gee, sounds a bit like another love affair that so horrifies us:
http://www.laineygossip.com/Articles/Celebrity/85/Details/24112/Sad-and-skinny-Tom-Cruise-spends-time-with-Suri-in-New-York
There’s a few things in my life that I am so passionate about that I cannot sit by when someone makes a casual comment that feeds into the issue: casual racial or ethnic slurs or assumptions, homophobic or derogatory comments toward same sex couples, pro-life crap based on BS statistics from people who have no idea what they are talking about, and books/movies that feed into the notion that women should benefit from the leadership/control of men. I will never support it, I will never sit idly by, and I will turn into a preaching nutjob at any point no matter my audience (whether it’s my racist and/or homophobic family members or an internet blog comments section).(case in point: today :)) While I absolutely understand not getting too deep, I think there are smarter options that still keep frivolity available. I wish Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling would write a library.
My husband is smart, he manages our finances and I expect him to handle some big decisions, but it’s not because I’m not capable, or because he won’t “allow” me. It’s because, in our dynamic, he’s more particular, more likely to be disatisfied with a purchase, and more willing to do the 500 pages of research on which washing machine is better. Christian Grey can take his silk tie and shove it. I couldn’t ask for better.
She and Ava look so cute.
Big pregnant in summer SUCKS! I had a late August baby, and NEVER AGAIN. (Literally, I made sure that NEVER happened again!)
I do think pregnancy suits her, though.
She was amazing in Freeway and that was pretty gritty. She has the chops but does she have the ability to actually act these days and lot rely heavily on a male costar to get her going? I hope so!!
She was fantastic in Freeway and Election. Two of my favorite movies and I am not even a fan of hers. I think at some point in her career she started to choose quantity over quality and money over actual substance.
If you haven’t seen Freeway, please go get it. One of my faves..She can do gritty.
Election was a dark comedy, and she was amazing in it. I can see her pulling off a gritty drama. I think she is best in “darker” roles.
I finished Gone Girl last week and it was an amazing book (thank God I don’t read GOOP and saw she recommended it, or I would have reacted the same way as you). That being said, it really isn’t a gritty thriller. Without spoiling anything, I’d say it is more of a book about mind games. If Reese does star she may be able to pull it off; I imagined the character of Amy as someone like Rachel McAdams so I would love for her to star but Reese just may pull it off. I highly recommend the book though, it has a lot of twists and I had a hard time putting it down.
Hmmm, Rachel McAdams – she could be a very good casting choice also!
I saw Ava first in the picture at top and thought it was Reese and wondered if she had her baby already! I had my baby last August, just before Hurricane Irene – we came home in a downpour and had no electricity, phone, and Internet for 2 weeks. Never again 🙂
Matching outfits, there’s no pre-planned pap shot there at all. We see it, you’re still alive, congratulations.
Reese W. won’t rebound until she figures out that no one cares to watch the umpteenth film wherein two men are in love with her. Also, romantic comedies are infinitely crappy. Heck, romantic movies are pure hell, in general. K. Hudson acts bubbly, R. McAdams cries, audiences save money.
She looks great! Chin is much smaller, and belly much bigger!!