‘He’s Just Not that Into You’ Team Joins Her For Multi-Story Film
Drew Barrymore is one of those stars that has recently broken out of the original mold that Hollywood cast for her. She directed her first feature “Whip It” in 2009 to critical, if not financial, success and was nominated for an Emmy and won a Golden Globe for her performance in the television miniseries “Grey Gardens” in the same year. She still continues, however, to stick to her genre of choice — the romantic comedy — starring in last year’s smart, yet predictable rom-com “Going the Distance.” So it’s no surprise that for her second directorial feature, THR reports, she’ll be taking on another romantic comedy, “How to be Be Single,” based on the eponymous book by Liz Tuccillo.
The film follows the love lives of a group of New Yorkers over 10 years and looks to take on the multi-story arc akin to “He’s Just Not That Into You” (a film in which Drew Barrymore also had a small role). Not coincidentally, the scribes of ‘Not That Into You,’ Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn, are also penning this adaptation. Barrymore is also producing the movie with her Flower Films partner Nancy Juvonen. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it is; this is the exact team behind ‘Not That Into You,’ and that film was less than worthy of all the talent poured into it. Judging by the massive onslaught of famous actors joining Garry Marshall‘s “New Year’s Eve,” we’d wager the eight or so roles up for grabs in this one will be aiming for a similar sort of ensemble casting.
“Whip It,” while sometimes melodramatic, was a charming, girl-power driven coming-of-age tale. Essentially, not something you see churned out of the Hollywood machine everyday. So, it’s a bit disappointing that Barrymore would follow that film with something as nondescript as this, though given the state of financing these days, we’re also not too surprised either. That said, Barrymore has a remarkable ear for music — “Whip It” boasted a staggeringly huge playlist — so at the very least, we hope the soundtrack on this one is similarly strong. But if her career as a director fails, she can always fall back on her rom-com acting skills: she just wrapped the Ken Kwapis (director of ‘Not that Into You’) pic “Everybody Loves Whales” with John Krasinski.
