Reese Witherspoon wants to go on a bit of a trek, as she’s now set to play hiker Cheryl Strayed in the adaptation of her memoir, Wild. Witherspoon, who will also produce, has handpicked novelist Nick Hornby to pen the adapted screenplay, according to Deadline.
Strayed’s book is about her 1100-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State. With no experience, she succeeded in her lengthy trek and managed to get her life back together in the process. She was going through the death of her mother and the break-up of her marriage at the time.
Witherspoon commented on hiring Nick Hornby, “Nick’s innate blend of humanity and humor are a perfect match for Cheryl’s raw emotional memoir. I look forward to collaborating with both of these talented writers to create a film full of honesty, adventure and self discovery.”
Hornby meanwhile what this to says, “I loved Cheryl Strayed’s memoir. It’s moving, funny, painful and brave, and the moment I’d finished it I wanted someone to let me have a go at adapting it, because it was clear to me that it could make a wonderful movie. I’m thrilled to be given the chance; the fact that this chance was given to me by Reese Witherspoon, a great actress who feels exactly the same way about the book as I do, makes this project all the more exciting.”
The film will shoot next year.