Coming off from her critically-acclaimed performance in 2019’s biopic drama Judy, two-time Oscar winner Renée Zellweger is making her comeback to the comedy genre with Landline Pictures’ The Back Nine. Zellweger has signed on for the leading role in the sports comedy film, with Sex and the City director Michael Patrick King attached to helm the project. This also marks King’s first feature-length project in nearly 11 years since directing 2010’s Sex and the City 2.
“Jhoni and Krista and I are very excited to have the amazing Renee Zellweger do our movie The Back Nine,” King said in a statement (via Deadline). “A stunning actress with incredible range, she can make you laugh and cry and has a great golf swing. What more could anyone want?”
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The Back Nine centers around Casey Jones, a woman who gave up a golf career so that her husband could have one. When she wakes up one morning to find her 25-year-old marriage in free fall and her son off to college, she dusts off the clubs she tossed aside years ago in an effort to finally turn pro and redefine the “back nine” of her life.
“Landline is so fortunate to launch with Back Nine anchoring our inaugural slate. It’s the perfect film for our mandate – star-driven, aspirational, relatable, and wildly funny. Michael and Renee are a formidable team and are going to make a classic movie for a broad audience,” Amy Baer said.
The film will be directed by Michael Patrick King from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jhoni Marchinko and Krista Smith. MRC Film-owned Landline Pictures head Amy Baer will be producing along with King. It will be executive produced by Marchinko, Smith, Zellweger and Carmella Casinelli for Big Picture Co.
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Zellweger is no stranger to the comedy genre as she previously starred in romcom films such as Reality Bites, Jerry Maguire, The Bachelor, Down with Love, and the Bridget Jones trilogy as well as comedy pics like Dazed and Confused, Me Myself and Irene, Nurse Betty, and Chicago. For her acclaimed performances in drama films Cold Mountain in 2004 and Judy in 2019, the actress was able to nabbed her two Oscar Awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively.
