The Gwynaissance continues.
After nearly a decade away from Hollywood, Gwyneth Paltrow has found another plum movie role in the film adaptation of Belle Burden’s hit book Strangers: A Marriage Memoir.
Netflix acquired the rights to the memoir in a heated six-way auction this week, sources told Variety. UTA brokered Baden’s deal. Burden captivated the nation earlier this year with her shocking and frank portrayal of the breakdown of a marriage, which became a New York Times bestseller.
It’s clear that Paltrow, who is making a dramatic return to the big screen with Marty Supreme and is heading into awards season, is a perfect fit for this material. The Oscar-winner’s company Goop introduced “conscious uncoupling” to culture in 2014, sparking broader conversations about grudges, forgiveness, and divorce.
Super-producer Stacey Sher is in charge of the project, with acclaimed screenwriter Heidi Schreck set to adapt the script. Paltrow will star and serve as executive producer.
Ms. Baden is an immigration attorney and granddaughter of social leader Babe Paley. Her memoir says that six years ago, Burden was “sitting safely with her family in her home on Martha’s Vineyard, riding out the early days of the pandemic together, building a late afternoon fire, drinking whiskey sours, and making roast chicken. Then her husband of 20 years said goodbye to her without warning or explanation. Overnight, her caring and stable partner became her… According to publisher Dial Press, this tome “reconsiders her marriage and searches for clues that her husband was not the person she always thought he was. Examining her relationship through a new lens, she examines her family’s history and the lessons she intuited about how women should behave in the face of betrayal.”
Paltrow was last seen in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, marking her return to the prestige indie after 12 years. The film received nine Oscar nominations and became distributor A24’s highest-grossing title to date. Paltrow won an Oscar for “Shakespeare in Love,” as well as a Golden Globe and an Emmy. In addition to moonlighting the Marvel universe, Paltrow has spent much of her time working on the category-defining lifestyle business.
Schreck is a Brooklyn-based playwright and screenwriter. Her critically acclaimed play, “What the Constitution Means to Me,” opened to sold-out theaters on Broadway, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and was nominated for two Tony Awards. Schreck’s other plays include “The Grand Concourse,” “The Creature,” and a new translation of “Uncle Vanya,” which recently premiered at Lincoln Center starring Steve Carell. She is currently writing the screenplay with Sarah Polley at Warner Bros. and developing a live-action She-Ra series at Prime Video.
Shah has produced more than 20 feature films, which have grossed approximately $2.7 billion worldwide. Her work includes Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and The Hateful Eight. Steven Soderbergh’s “Erin Brockovich,” “Out of Sight,” and “Contagion.” “Garden State” and “Get Shorty.” Most recently, Shah produced the A24 thriller “Heretic,” which received BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe nominations for star Hugh Grant. She will next release Verity, based on Colleen Hoover, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett.
Baden is repped by Brettne Bloom of The Book Group and UTA. Schreck is repped by Curate Management and UTA. Paltrow is repped by Lighthouse Management & Media.
