Julia Roberts & Ryan Murphy To Reteam For A Romantic Comedy

Sony likes what they have in store with “Eat Pray Love” and are eager to get lead actress Julia Roberts and director Ryan Murphy together again.

Deadline reports that the studio has just paid $5 million to Murphy to write and direct a currently untitled romantic comedy for Roberts. In the film Roberts “will play a working woman married to a stay-at-home husband. She loses her job, their roles are reversed, and she has to adjust to motherhood.” Life lessons and crying probably ensue.

We’ll dial back the snark because really, it’s heartening that studios are pressing forward with films for women that aren’t about vampires, consumerism or finding happiness only when you’ve found the right man and had a dream wedding. Though it’s not up our usual alley, we’re hoping that “Eat Pray Love” is a late summer surprise. Certainly, Sony’s confidence in the Murphy/Roberts team bodes well. No word on a start date for the new film, but Murphy hopes to have the script finished soon with an eye to putting the film into production next year.

This is yet another project on Murphy’s increasingly full slate, which also includes potentially directing the big screen version of the musical “Wicked” and the gestating HIV/AIDS drama “The Normal Heart” with Mark Ruffalo. Oh yeah, he’s also one of the creators of a little show called “Glee” that you might’ve heard about.