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Reese Witherspoon Developing In a Dark, Dark Wood Movie

Reese Witherspoon is developing a movie based on Ruth Ware’s mystery novel “In a Dark, Dark Wood.”

New Line Cinema has acquired the film rights from the Gotham Group, which will produce with Witherspoon’s Pacific Standard banner. Witherspoon will team with partner Bruna Papandrea. The duo produced “Wild,” “Gone Girl” and “Hot Pursuit,” and has a dozen projects in the works.

Ellen Goldsmith-Vein (“Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials”) will produce for The Gotham Group. Gotham’s Lindsay Williams and Shari Smiley will serve in producorial roles.

“In a Dark, Dark Wood” is the second book-to-film collaboration between Pacific Standard and New Line, which teamed up on Garth Callaghan’s “Napkin Notes” earlier this year. The book was on the New York Times, USA Today and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists when it debuted in August.

The story centers on a reclusive writer who receives an invitation to a bachelorette party of her best friend from high school, who she hasn’t seen in 10 years.

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Richard Brener, Andrea Johnston and Walter Hamada are overseeing the project for New Line. CAA brokered the deal on behalf of Gotham Group and Pacific Standard.

Witherspoon and Papandea formed Pacific Standard in 2012 in order to remedy the absence of movies with female protagonists. They are currently developing Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s “Ashley’s War” at Fox 2000, “Big Little Lies,” “The Engagements,” “Pennyroyal’s Princess Boot Camp,” “The Outliers” and Wendy Walker’s “All Is Not Forgotten.”

Witherspoon is handled by CAA, LBI Entertainment, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush and Kaller. Ware is repped by literary agent Eve White and Gotham Group.

The news was first reported by The Tracking Board.

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