As he turns his attention to getting pharmaceutical psycho-thriller Side Effects made, Steven Soderbergh has obviously been raiding his Rolodex. He’s added another former collaborator to the cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones is now on board to play a character called Dr Eric Siebert. Hmm. We wonder if that first name will change following her casting.
She’s joining fellow repeat Soderbergh performers Jude Law and Channing Tatum in a story that will see Blake Lively playing a very troubled young woman.
Desperately struggling with depression and anxiety over the pending release of her husband (Tatum) from prison, Lively’s character begins swallowing lots of prescription drugs in order to help her cope. But things begin to go badly wrong, and the situation is not helped when she starts a relationship with her doctor (Law).
Effects is described as a potboiler throwback script (think Basic Instinct) written by Informant and Contagion writer Scott Z Burns. He had been set to direct project himself, but has had to stand aside because he’s too busy at the keyboard.
Zeta-Jones, of course, worked with Soderbergh on Traffic, while Law co-starred in Contagion and Tatum has become a real regular, featuring in Haywire and Soderbergh’s next planned release, stripper drama Magic Mike.
The actress will next be seen in Stephen Frears' **Lay The Favourite **(which, like so many other movies at the moment, just debuted at Sundance) and musical adaptation Rock Of Ages. She’s currently busy shooting Broken City.
Side Effects itself has suffered somewhat of a road bump as Variety reports that financial backers Annapurna have apparently dropped out, leaving Soderbergh looking for new cash. Given the casting, we’re sure he’ll lock some soon enough.