Somehow, somehow, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon have never starred on screen together. Hardly seems possible, does it? With their roles in HBO’s long-awaited Big Little Lies (also starring Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgård and Laura Dern) due to land on the small screen at some point next year – the show saw Kidman turn down a role in Wonder Woman due to scheduling conflicts – the pair have used the wait wisely, joining forces to option the film rights to Australian author Liane Moriarty’s Truly Madly Guilty. (As luck would have it, Big Little Lies is based on another of Moriarty’s books.)
With the acting giants’ production companies having already worked together on Big Little Lies, Pacific Standard (Witherspoon) and Blossom Films (Kidman) will now tackle the New York Times bestseller: something Witherspoon’s company has an especially good track record with, having previously acquired Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.
Truly Madly Guilty revolves around six adults and three children over a single weekend, dealing with marriage, parenthood and everything in-between. But don’t expect this to be a straightforward, happy family story: this is a tale stuffed with secrets, which has the potential to be a pretty explosive film.
Kidman has Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, Sofia Coppola’s Beguiled, and Garth Davis’ Lion on her slate, while Witherspoon will soon be seen lending her voice to Garth Jennings’ Sing, starring in Paul Feig’s Wish List, and playing a live action Tinker Bell in another live action Disney retelling.