With the demagogue-in-chief doing everything in his power to outlaw legal abortion, the public — and the elderly white men who are able to legislatively control women’s bodies — needs a reminder of why reproductive rights are essential. So, Alison Owen and Debra Hayward’s plans to bring the story of Roe v. Wade to the big screen might be the reality check we all need. According to Deadline, Jennifer Majka (“The Bigger Picture”) will write the script about the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that granted women in the U.S. the right to a safe, legal abortion for Owen and Hayward’s Monumental Pictures.
“We are excited and proud to be collaborating with Jen Majka to tell this important story,” Owen commented. “Women’s reproductive freedom is just as contested now as it was before this case and this is a story that everyone should know.”
“Roe vs. Wade reshaped the universal conversation on abortion,” Hayward added. “The time to revisit its history has never felt more apt, and we’re thrilled to be undertaking the journey along with Jen.”
Filed on behalf of the pregnant Norma McCorvey (aka “Jane Roe”) by her lawyer, Sarah Weddington, Roe v. Wade began as a fight against a Texas law that prohibited abortion unless the mother’s life was in danger. Weddington and her team filed suit against Henry Wade, the Dallas DA, and the case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. The law — and the laws like it in 30 other states — was overturned 7–2.
Since then, anti-choice legislators and activists have systemically weakened Roe v. Wade’s power and reach. McCorvey herself, who died in February, had a change of heart, joined the anti-choice movement, and spent the latter part of her life fighting against what she and Weddington accomplished.
As Deadline details, Owen and Hayward “have focused on strong, female lead stories for both film and television” since starting Monumental Pictures in 2014. Among their slated projects are “Harlots,” the Hulu series created by Moira Buffini and Alison Newman with a nearly all-female crew; Jackie Collins’ “Lucky Santangelo Series,” written by Buffini; an adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s “How To Build A Girl”; and the Shawn Slovo-penned biopic about Victorian mathematician Ada Lovelace.
Owen served as producer on projects like Sarah Gavron’s “Suffragette,” Thea Sharrock’s “Me Before You,” and “Jane Eyre” (2011). As Deadline writes, Hayward “was a huge creative driving force behind UK production powerhouse Working Title’s biggest hits” like Sharon Maguire’s “Bridget Jones’ Baby” and “Les Miserables.”
Besides “The Bigger Picture,” Majka co-wrote the upcoming “Beautiful Devils,” a modern retelling of “Othello.” It hits UK theaters March 22.
