Hilary Swank bringing "Fat Women" to screen

By Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hilary Swank's production company has picked up the rights to the best-seller "French Women Don't Get Fat," and the actress is eyeing the project as a potential starring vehicle.

The lifestyle book showed how French women manage to stay slim despite enjoying such calorie-rich fare as wine and pastries.

Written by former Veuve Clicquot champagne executive Mireille Guiliano, it was a domestic and international sensation when it was first published in 2004.

The book reached No. 1 on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list and was translated into 40 languages. Mireille became a fixture on TV, appearing on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," morning news shows and other programs around the world.

The feature adaptation is envisaged as a romantic comedy following a "girl-next-door champagne company middle manager who learns some tough life lessons which help her become the woman she's always wanted to be," according to a statement from Swank's 2S Films and production partner PorterGeller Entertainment. The script will be written by Heather Hach (2003's "Freaky Friday").

Developing features around nonfiction book titles or concepts isn't new. New Line has "He's Just Not That Into You," an adaptation of the dating lifestyle tome by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Two-time Oscar winner Swank and her 2S partner Molly Smith also are developing "Falling Out of Fashion" and "You're Not You."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter