No stranger to period pics, Reese Witherspoon traveled to the ’60s to tell the story of June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line,” the ’30s for circus drama “Water for Elephants,” and way back to the 1800s for Mira Nair’s adaptation of “Vanity Fair.” Now the Oscar winner is setting her sights on the Vietnam War. Fox 2000 has preemptively snagged the rights to Heath Lee’s upcoming non-fiction book “League of Wives” for Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine banner to produce an adaptation. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news.
Set to published by St. Martin’s Press in April 2019, Lee’s book “tells of a group of women, wives of military men who would never describe themselves as feminists, that banded together to save their husbands,” the source summarizes. “When their fighter pilot husbands were shot down, captured, and imprisoned for years under deplorable conditions during the Vietnam War, the group of well-educated military wives transformed into a league of take-charge lobbyists, human rights activists, and even spies determined to do everything in their power to bring their POW and MIA spouses home. By 1973, the group had brought back 115 men.”
Lee is a museum curator, and her book is partly based on her museum exhibition exploring the same subject.
“At Hello Sunshine, we strive to showcase brave, brilliant female characters, and the women of ‘League of Wives’ are all of that and more,” said Witherspoon, who will produce alongside Hello Sunshine exec Lauren Levy Neustadter. “From the minute I heard about this inspiring true story, I knew it was a perfect fit for us. I’m excited to be partnering with the team at Fox 2000 to bring this special book to life on-screen, and to be giving audiences a glimpse at this meaningful moment in American History.”
“A Wrinkle in Time” and “Home Again” are among Witherspoon’s most recent on-screen credits. Her producing credits include “Gone Girl” and “Wild.” In addition to starring in HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” she exec produces the Liane Moriarty adaptation. A second season has wrapped filming, but no word on when it will premiere.
Witherspoon has a number of projects in the pipeline where she’ll be working on both sides of the camera. She’s exec producing and starring in an untitled morning show drama for Apple and “Little Fires Everywhere,” Hulu’s adaptation of Celeste Ng’s bestselling novel. Jennifer Aniston co-stars in the former and Kerry Washington the latter.
