'Frozen River' Director Courtney Hunt To Helm Reese Witherspoon Comedy 'Rule #1'

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by Kevin Jagernauth
November 10, 2011 5:18 PM
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It looks Reese Witherspoon is mixing it up, as the actress usually does. Earlier this year she starred in the period romancer "Water For Elephants" with Robert Pattinson, and in early 2012 Tom Hardy and Chris Pine will battle over her in McG's "This Means War." This fall she spent time hanging around indie filmmaking rising star Jeff Nichols, starring in his next effort, "Mud," and after that she's pairing up with a respected helmer for a new comedy.

Courtney Hunt, who made her feature debut with "Frozen River," which landed her an Oscar nomination for writing, and Melissa Leo a nod for Best Actress, will make her sophomore effort on "Rule #1." The refreshingly named Terrel Seltzer ("One Fine Day") penned the story about a 34-year-old woman suffering from OCD who decides the best thing to do is take in a young woman with ADD and her baby all in some elaborate scheme to get her husband back. That's why they call it the movies folks. And who says original ideas are dead in Hollywood? We suppose rule #1 is not believability.

The project was originally set up at the respectable Fox Searchlight, but they put it in turnaround in 2009, so we wonder about this. No word yet on when the project might roll, but this is much more firmed up than the potential "Sex Tape" with Jason Segel, with the actor telling us recenty that he and Nicholas Stoller haven't even talked to her about it yet. The more you know. [THR]

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