There was a brief moment there, when she was still exhausted from having given birth to twins, when Julia Roberts threatened to retire from acting. Happily, a few bits of voice work and a run on Broadway later and she’s dropped all such silly talk and is back in the saddle, with upcoming roles in Charlie Wilson’s War and The Friday Night Knitting Club ready to go. Today** **the news is that she’s also producing-with-an-eye-to-starring-in Happiness Sold Separately, an adaptation of the bestseller of the same name by the improbably monikered Lolly Winston.
The story follows Elinor, a successful career woman whose marriage begins to fall apart after she discovers she can’t have children, and her husband Ted begins an affair with the nutritionist at his gym. But instead of the usual maneating witch, the nutritionist is another decent person with a young son, who soon latches on to Ted as the stable father figure he needs.
The film is set to be written and directed by Scott Coffey, the man behind the much-applauded Naomi Watts film Ellie Parker. Fox Searchlight is in talks to distribute the film, which suggests that it’s not going to be a huge, mainstream rom-com but something a little more off-beat. Fingers crossed anyway…