That’s right folks! According to Variety, Katherine Heigl is lined up to play Janet Evanovich’s claim to fame and everyone’s favorite bounty hunter – Stephanie Plum!! In the upcoming film, One For The Money, she’ll be hunting down the hottest cop in Trenton! One For The Money is the title of the first book in soon to be 20 book series, with Sizzling Sixteen due for release in June of this year.
You may remember me sharing my Stephanie Plum Movie Castings around this time last year. My first choice was Sandra Bullock, but apparently it’s not meant to be. Regardless, I love these books and I am so excited to see it all come to life on the big screen.
We will get to see the whole gang… Stephanie, Ranger, Morelli, Lula … in the flesh!
Recently I expressed my disappointment about Angelina Jolie getting the role of Kay Scarpetta from the popular Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell, so when I saw that Katherine has been given the role of Stephanie Plum… I paused. Partially to figure out if I think it could work, and also to ponder what on earth they were thinking when they initially considered Reese Witherspoon!? I’m sorry, I love her and she is in some of my all time favorite chick flicks, but she is not Stephanie Plum.
… but is Heigl?
The age bracket fits and we know Heigl is capable of taking on the role, but the blond thing worries me. Stephanie is not blond. I know, it’s a minor detail and I do hope they tone down the lightness of her hair a bit for this one, just to make it believable. Considering that’s pretty much the only negative point that comes to mind, I think I am actually behind this! While she wasn’t my first choice and I never would have thought of her myself, the more I think about it the more it seems like a good fit.
Besides, as you can see from the photo below, she hasn’t always been this blond.
There are a lot of Heigl-Haters out there but I’ve never been one of them. While her character on Grey’s Anatomy (Izzy) has gotten on my nerves at times I think Katherine Heigl played her brilliantly. I have liked every movie I’ve seen her in. I know she’s been accused of being high maintenance and a pain in the ass to work with, but that’s not the viewers’ problem. I like her and I think with the right script and a good director, this could be a fantastic film with plenty of possibilities for sequels.
From what I can tell, the movie is going to follow the storyline of the first book rather than taking bits and pieces throughout the series. Here is the bit I have been able to pick up so far:
Heigl will play Plum, a lingerie buyer who takes on work as a bounty hunter to make some extra cash, setting off a series of adventures that has lead to 19 books so far, the most recent being “Finger Lickin’ Fifteen.”
In “One for the Money,” Plum learns the ropes of bounty hunting by chasing down a wanted cop named Joseph Morelli, who happens to be the guy who took her virginity back when she was 16 and wrote about it on the bathroom wall of Mario’s Sub Shop.
It will be interesting now to see who they cast in the rest of the roles. Strangely, my pick for Joe Morelli was Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and we already know they have some great on screen chemistry. The story of their characters, Denny and Izzy, on Grey’s Anatomy is still what I consider to be one of the better parts of the show to date. Whether that would help or hinder the chances of him being cast as Joe is uncertain though. Perhaps it wouldn’t be possible to have them on screen without people always seeing them as Denny and Izzy. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks have done it plenty of times though, so it can be done.
The ones I am most interested in are Morelli, Ranger, Grandma Mazur and Lula. If they get them right, along with Stephanie… the rest is gravy.
What do you think of Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum?
Do you think she can make it happen or are you a Heigl Hater?
Who would you like to see join the cast as Morelli and the other supporting characters?
Filed Under: Entertainment
this is a particularly bad choice, Stephanie is not a shallow, plastic, cut-out doll! As much as I love these books, I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on the movie. Can you imagine Katherine Heigl with a Grandma Mazur?
I don’t see Heigl as a shallow, plastic, cut-out doll. I think she’s quite a good actress. My guess is that she’ll surprise a lot of people with this one!
I am a huge fan of Janet Evanovich and the Plum series is my favorite. I have read all of the books at least 3 times and I cannot wait for the next. I too was stumped by the original casting of Reese Witherspoon…she is TOOO short TOOO blonde and TOOO almost southern I guess. Stephanie is half Italian and half Hungarian from Trenton New Jersey. I orignally pictured Sandra Bullock in the part but she is a bit older now. I like Heigl in what I have seen her in and I have no doubt she can play the part well. She can def. do comedy and slapstick comedy. The only problem is she HAS to look the part. If she will dye the hair brown it can work (even though she doesnt have Stephanie’s blue eyes). I am warming to this and I am SOO glad that they are finally going to make this film. All I ask is PLEASE PLEASE remember Stephanie Plum is NOT BLONDE!!!!
I thought the same when I first heard about Reese Witherspoon. I love her to pieces and Sweet Home Alabama is one of my very favorite chick flicks… but she does not suit the role of Stephanie Plum at all. At ALL. I agree that if the tone down the hair, we may have our S.P. with Heigl!