Janet Evanovich news

From iVillage --

Katherine Heigl: Big-Screen Mystery Woman --

By: Donna Kaufman --
Feb 10, 2010 --

You know Stephanie Plum, right -- Italian-Hungarian, eats peanut butter-and-pickle sandwiches, has a tendency to crash cars? If you're nodding right now, then you've no doubt devoured a few of Janet Evanovich's highly entertaining mysteries, from 1994's One for the Money to last summer's Finger Lickin' Fifteen. Well, it's a good week for Evanovich fans: Yesterday, Columbia Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment announced plans to make the first film adaptation of the New Jersey-based series, starring The Ugly Truth's Katherine Heigl as bounty hunter Plum.

Heigl's casting surprised many longtime readers, who were expecting somebody a bit more streetwise and a little less blonde (Plum is described as Italian-Hungarian in the books). On her Most Frequently Asked Questions page, author Evanovich says she's pictured Sandra Bullock in the role ever since seeing Miss Congeniality. The author also polled readers about casting Anne Hathaway, and Rachel McAdams' name pops up frequently on fan message boards. (Go here to see one enthusiastic fan's casting ideas.) All of these actresses are a more intuitive fit for the role of Trenton-born, fast-talking Plum. Still, the last actress officially attached to the movie was another blondie, Reese Witherspoon -- and we think Heigl, who showed off her ability to do broad humor in Knocked Up, is a waaaay better choice than the more subtle Witherspoon.

The movie will be based on the first Stephanie Plum book, One for the Money, and is on the "fast track" to being made. In the meantime, eager fans can pre-order the next book, Sizzling Sixteen, which hits bookstores on June 22.