Todd Haynes to Direct Reese Witherspoon's Peggy Lee Biopic

Here's one you may have forgotten about. A few years ago Reese Witherspoon was developing a biopic on jazz singer/songwriter Peggy Lee, with Nora Ephron set to direct. Ephron's unfortunate passing put the project in limbo, but it looks like Witherspoon has been working hard behind the scenes to get her passion project moving again. While in Toronto where she's receiving some incredible reviews for her performance in Wild, Witherspoon took to the stage and revealed the Peggy Lee film is back on with a director in Todd Haynes.

Haynes knows his way around musical biopics having mad his name on Velvet Goldmine, a film focused on the 1970s glam rock era. He also directed the offbeat Bob Dylan biopic, I'm Not There, which featured a wide cast (including Cate Blanchett) as the performer. So it will be interesting to see what approach he takes in chronicle Lee's 60-year career that saw the North Dakota girl rise to the top of the charts. And this is obviously familiar ground for Witherspoon after winning an Oscar for playing June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. 

Haynes' next film is the Patricia Highsmith adaptation, Carol, starring Blanchett and Rooney Mara. More importantly, this is another high note for Witherspoon who is in the midst of a serious comeback.

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Amanda Seyfried joins 'While We're Young'; Steven Soderbergh to helm 'The Knick'; Todd Haynes returns for 'Carol'

* Noah Baumbach's invigorating Frances Ha rolls into theaters nationwide tomorrow, but he's also busy assembling the cast for his long-developing While We're Young. Reuniting with his Greenberg star Ben Stiller, along with Adam Driver (Girls) and Naomi Watts, Baumbach has now added Amanda Seyfried. The film follows an older couple who are inspired to "loosen up" by a younger, carefree couple, obviously comprised of Driver and Seyfried. The plan is for filming to take place this fall.

* So much for that retirement, eh? Ok, so maybe he only meant feature films. Steven Soderbergh will direct every episode of Cinemax's 10-episode TV series, The Knick, starring Clive Owen.  The show sounds pretty awesome, set in the 1900s at the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York City, where the surgeons, nurses, and staff push the boundaries of modern medicine at a time when mortality rates were ridiculously high. Soderbergh's final film, Behind the Candelabra, airs on HBO this Sunday.[Deadline]

* Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) has replaced John Crowley as the director of Carol, marking his first big screen effort in six years. Starring Cate Blanchett and Mia Wasikowska, the film is based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, The Price of Salt, set in the 1950s and centering on the lesbian relationship between a bored housewife and her young lover. Haynes has been keeping busy, recently directing the Emmy award-winning Mildred Pierce for HBO.

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