Reese Witherspoon

Movie News - Reese Witherspoon will star in a new film penned by Nick Hornby.

The 36-year-old actress has been handpicked by the popular 'About a Boy' author - who has recently turned his hand to screenwriting - to star in the adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir 'Wild', which Reese will also produce.

She commented: ''Nick's innate blend of humanity and humor are a perfect match for Cheryl's raw emotional memoir. I look forward to collaborating with both of these talented writers to create a film full of honesty, adventure and self discovery.''

'Wild' explores the American author's struggle to cope after her mother's death and the breakdown of her marriage. She embarks on a challenging 1100-mile hike along the Pacific coast to work through her issues, Deadline.com is reporting.

Nick said in a statement: ''I loved Cheryl Strayed's memoir. It's moving, funny, painful and brave, and the moment I'd finished it I wanted someone to let me have a go at adapting it, because it was clear to me that it could make a wonderful movie.

''I'm thrilled to be given the chance; the fact that this chance was given to me by Reese Witherspoon, a great actress who feels exactly the same way about the book as I do, makes this project all the more exciting.''

Nick is no stranger to adapting bestsellers for the silver screen; he wrote the screenplay for the 1997 film based on his debut novel 'Fever Pitch' and has since moved on to adapting others' work, namely the Oscar-nominated 'An Education', starring Carey Mulligan.

Nick is currently working on romantic drama 'Brooklyn', fronted by Rooney Mara. His own novels 'High Fidelity' and 'About a Boy' have also been made into hit films.

© Bang Showbiz