A friend of mine recently read the novel Happiness Sold Separately and loved it. I remember when she finished it, she said “Man, I can see Julia Roberts being in this movie!” Well, I’ve got good news for her.
Julia Roberts will be producing the adaptation of Happiness Sold Separately, the best selling novel by Lolly Winston. Roberts is also looking to star. Scott Coffey will write the script and also direct.
As for distributing, Fox Searchlight is looking to pick up the duties. Team Todd’s Suzanne & Jennifer Todd, along with Joe Roth will be producing.
Amazon’s description of the book is quite the mouthfull: The marriage of Ted and Elinor Mackey, a yuppie podiatrist-lawyer couple in their early-40s living in Northern California, is pushed to the brink when Elinor learns that Ted is having an affair with his trainer, Gina Ellison. Elinor’s reaction—pity—surprises her. Winston (Good Grief) adroitly makes it clear that Ted’s affair is a symptom: infertility problems have caused years of emotional turmoil. And Gina’s no bimbo: she has a loving but difficult relationship with Ted, complicated further by her young son, Toby, and his immediate attachment to Ted as a stable father figure. When Elinor confronts Ted and Gina, Ted quickly ends the affair; neither is sure if infidelity or infertility should end their marriage. During their separation, Elinor takes a sabbatical from her law firm and casually dates Noah Orch, a hunky but dull arborist. Ted haphazardly resumes his relationship with Gina. As he realizes that his connection to her is more than an escape from a bad marriage, all concerned have decisions to make.
Sounds like a Julia Roberts movie. Not exactly the cinematic tastes I have, but I can hear the collective voices of females everywhere going “I need to see this.”