Las Madres is coming together fairly quickly. The Dreamworks comedy recently enlisted Leslie Mann to lead the charge. It's a three-female ensemble film where a trio of friends pursue a target as a newly-operational bounty hunting operation. And now Las Madres is bringing along an Oscar-winner onto the cast, The Help star Octavia Spencer.
Variety reports that Octavia Spencer is the latest addition to Las Madres, joining Mann in this Lona Williams and Pam Brady-scripted film, which, holy cow, is not based on a previously established property, be it novel, comic book, or foreign film. What an oddity, the idea of an original film. The movie is expected to touch on the idea of middle aged unemployment, while also providing an action comedy angle where the three leads go on an adventure. The guess is there will be some sort of suburban angle as well, and that these women will have to balance bounty hunting with childcare. Maybe some bad guy gets hit on the head with a dirty diaper. Brady's presence (she penned many episodes of South Park as well as Hot Rod) suggests it will be slightly weirder.
It's hard not to see this as a project coming together specifically because of the breakout success of The Other Woman. Mann starred amongst a triumvirate of women in that film as well, which has gone on to gross a solid $97 million worldwide in only two weeks of release. Slightly less than half of that has come from international audiences, and that number continues to expand as the film makes its way to other territories. It's exceptionally difficult for a female-led film to gain traction overseas as they compete heavily with regions that favor boy-centric action blockbusters. The Other Woman has been holding steady at the box office and could conceivably wrap up at $150 million worldwide or more. On a budget of $40 million, that's more than impressive.
Octavia Spencer's remained busy since her Oscar win a couple of years ago. She'll next be seen in this summer's Snowpiercer and Get On Up, and some say she could be an Oscar contender playing against Kevin Costner in the upcoming Black And White. In addition to the drama Fathers And Daughters, she'll also be getting her own show this fall, starring in Fox's Red Band Society. TV used to be the last resort for an actor, but that didn't stop the super-busy Spencer from earlier courting a Murder, She Wrote reboot that sadly died. Red Band Society was picked up, so it's unclear when that show's hiatus will allow Spencer to film Las Madres, but surely something will be worked out between studios. Las Madres is currently without a director, though expect a third cast member to be announced soon as it looks like the production is gearing to begin immediately.
