Mick Jagger to
produce remake of The Women

Indie distributor Picturehouse has acquired all North American rights to the long-gestating remake of The Women, a project that will be produced by Mick Jagger.

Meg Ryan is in talks to star in the film for writer-director Diane English. Anne Hathaway, Lisa Kudrow, and Candice Bergen are among the other actresses being mentioned. Ryan would play a contemporary Martha Stewart-style TV personality who, as in George Cukor's 1939 original, discovers that her husband is cheating on her.

English said Cukor's adaptation of Clare Boothe Luce's all-female comedy was "a poison-pen letter to society women," whereas her take "is more of a love letter."

Jagger will serve as a producer, along with his Jagged Films partner, Victoria Pearman. "The Women is a very exciting project for our company," Jagger said. "It's a very funny and incisive script."

Budgeted in the $18 million range, the project is slated to begin production in March in New York and Connecticut for release during next year's holiday season or spring 2008. Picturehouse president Bob Berney said he plans to market the film as a broad comedy with a wide release.

The project has been in the works since 1995, when Ryan and Julia Roberts independently asked New Line Cinema about doing a remake. The studio hired English, creator of CBS's Murphy Brown, to write a new screenplay for the duo, but they then moved on to other projects.

Directors such as James Brooks and Oliver Parker also were involved at various points. "[New Line cochairman and co-CEO] Bob Shaye finally suggested that I direct about three years ago, which I always secretly hoped he'd do," English said.

In January, English bought back the rights to her screenplay along with certain remake rights for a price in the low seven figures. In moving to Picturehouse, the project remains within the New Line family, as Picturehouse is jointly owned by New Line and HBO, both owned by Time Warner. (Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter)