Newly minted star Dakota Johnson has lined up her first post-”50 Shades” project.
Johnson will take the lead role in and executive produce an adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s debut novel “Forever, Interrupted.” The actress will play a young widow reeling from the death of her husband (via car accident) nine days after their elopement — and getting to know the mother-in-law who never knew she existed.
The script will be written by Tricia McAlpin, who’s also penning a spin-off of “The Heat” that will be directed by Paul Feig.
Here’s the synopsis of the “Forever, Interrupted” novel:
Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.
Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met — and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.
Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, “Forever, Interrupted” will remind you that there’s more than one way to find a happy ending.
[via Deadline]