When Steven Soderbergh's Traffic came out in 2000, Catherine Zeta-Jones was at the top of her game. She was one of the biggest actresses in Hollywood and only two years away from her first Oscar. In the years since, however, Zeta-Jones hasn't been around nearly as much. She hasn't appeared in a feature film since 2009's The Rebound, but now she's starting to make her comeback. Stephen Frears' Lay The Favorite is currently playing at the Sundance Film Festival, Adam Shankman's Rock of Ages comes out in a few months, and Gabriele Muccino's Playing The Field will be arriving in December. Now, however, she's cemented her comeback: she's working with Soderbergh again.
According to Deadline, Zeta-Jones has signed on to star in The Side Effects. A thriller written by Scott Z. Burns (who also scripted Contagion and The Informant!), the thriller is also set to star Blake Lively, Jude Law and Channing Tatum. Of the group, only Lively has never been in a Soderbergh movie before. The film is being financed by Annapurna Pictures and will start shooting in New York in April. The film is about a young woman (Lively) who becomes hooked on prescription drugs because of her anxiety related to the release of her husband (Tatum) from prison. Zeta-Jones will play Dr. Erica Siebert, but it's unclear how she fits into the plot.
This is going to be a big year for Catherine Zeta-Jones. She's been gone for so long it will be interesting to see if she can still bring it. Considering she has that Academy Award sitting on her mantle, I think we can be pretty confident that she can.
