Julia Roberts has just taken on the task of starring in and producing a big-screen adaptation of Fool Me Once, based on the new novel by Harlan Coben.
The star was quick to jump on the opportunity, as the book was just published earlier this month by Penguin’s Dutton imprint. As it’s still in early stages, there is no studio officially attached to the project to date.
Fool Me Once revolves around former special ops pilot Maya, who spots an alarming image captured by her nanny camera while at work. It depicts her 2-year-old daughter playing with her late husband, Joe, whom had just been murdered two weeks earlier. Maya then begins to uncover a series of events while also questioning what she saw.
Author Harlan Coben has not yet found much success on the big screen, despite being widely recognized on the New York Times best-seller list. Only one book has been adapted to date, Tell No One, a 2006 French film by Guillaume Canet. Paramount had shown interest in another Coben book, Six Years (with Hugh Jackman set to star) but the film has not moved past early planning stages in three years.
Roberts will work on the film alongside partners Lisa Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill. Meanwhile, the actress will be seen at the premiere of Jodie Foster’s Money Monster, opposite George Clooney. Other projects include Mother’s Day, which debuts in April 2016, where she works alongside Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson.
Roberts and Coben are both represented by CAA, with the actress also backed by Engelman & Company and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof + Fishman.