Charlize Theron’s production company has picked up the rights to Christopher Buckley’s satirical novel, Florence Of Arabia, with plans for the actress to produce and star in a film version. Variety says Christopher Buckley’s novel is about a State Dept. employee who, after watching her friend marry the prince of a Middle East country and subsequently get executed, fights for equal rights for the women of that country. We’re not exactly sure where the ‘satirical’ part comes into that plot synopsis, as it doesn’t exactly sound like something that’s ripe for laughs.
Dean Craig, writer of Death At A Funeral, has been hired to write the script. However we’d imagine it’s going to be a tough one for Charlize to get to the screen. While the treatment of women in some Middle Eastern nation is a topic that really deserves a lot more attention than it gets, it’s also a subject that Hollywood is likely to be wary of, meaning Charlize and co. will need a spectacular script to get the money men to hand over the cash – oh, and get a new title, because Florence of Arabia is rubbish.