After dominating HBO with Big Little Lies and Hulu with Little Fires Everywhere (coming soon to Amazon Prime in the UK), Reese Witherspoon is officially taking her talents to the biggest streaming platform in the game: Netflix.
Deadline revealed that the actress has inked an exclusive deal with Netflix that will see her producing and starring in two original films for the streaming giant. Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine, has purchased the rights to a screenplay and a best-selling novel, both of which will mark her to return to her romantic comedy roots.
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The first project is a screenplay titled Your Place or Mine. The rom-com, written and directed by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), will follow the evolving long-distance relationship between a single mother and her best friend as they both go through major life changes. Witherspoon will star, of course, and Hello Sunshine is partnering with Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan's Aggregate Films production company to co-produce the film.
Witherspoon is a big reader, and as a result, several of her recent onscreen endeavours (Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere) have been mined from some of the best-selling books in the country. Her second project in the Netflix deal is no different; it will be a film adaptation of Sarah Haywood's 2019 novel The Cactus. The story is about a woman who faces the sudden prospect of being a mother in her mid-40s and the unexpected love story that follows. Haywood's protagonist is British, and Witherspoon is obviously not — wonder if she'll be putting on an accent for the film?
Your Place or Mine and The Cactus mark Witherspoon's first deal with Netflix. Seeing as her last few projects with other streaming vehicles were such a success, Netflix is excited to collaborate with her and Hello Sunshine to share the projects with their audience.
"Reese and her team at Hello Sunshine have made a tremendous mark on the industry," said Scott Stuber, the head of Netflix's original films. "We’re excited to have found two terrific projects to collaborate with them on.”