[i]Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel star in romantic comedy about a retired soccer pro coaching a boys’ team and fending off their mothers.[/i]
CANNES — FilmDistrict has scooped up all U.S. rights to Gabriele Muccino’s Playing the Field, starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel, from Nu Image/Millenium Films.
The romantic comedy, written by Robbie Fox, stars Butler as a washed-up, retired soccer pro who moves back to Virginia to connect with his ex-wife, played by Biel, only to find himself coaching a boys’ soccer team while fending off the temptations offered by the attendant soccer moms.
The cast also includes Uma Thurman, Judy Greer, Dennis Quaid and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The film was produced by Butler and Alan Siegel in association with Kevin Misher, Jonathan Mostow, Heidi Jo Markel and John Thompson. Nu Image/Millennium Films’ Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Avi Lerner are executive producers.
FilmDistrict, the new U.S. distributor which focuses on broad-based, commercial fare and is headed by Peter Schlessel and Bob Berney, is planning a spring, 2012 release.