Fans of Parenthood, the TV adaptation of Ron Howard's Steve Martin vehicle, will soon having something like solace following the cancellation of the beloved series, which ended earlier this year. THR is reporting that Lauren Graham and Mae Whitman, who played mother and daughter in the NBC series, are set to re-team and work on an adaptation of The Royal We together. The book was written by Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks, the creators of the Go Fug Yourself fashion blog, and is currently being developed under CBS Films' banner. Graham will write the script for the adaptation while Whitman is looking to star in the film. Both of them will serve as producers for the feature.
The story of The Royal We is a kind of take-off from the courtship of Kate Middleton and Prince William, with the narrative centering on an American student taking classes at Oxford with a young man who ends up being the future King of England. Spoiler alert: they fall head over heels for one another and she must come to understand, and test, the boundaries of traditionalism. Some readers might also remember that this is more or less the plot of The Prince & Me, a not-so-memorable romantic comedy from the aughts that starred Julia Stiles in the American role. Regardless, Whitman has proven herself to be an exemplary comic actor, from Arrested Development to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and already proved herself as an adept leading lady in this year's underrated The Duff. And though the material does seem just a bit rote, it's also exactly the kind of broad conception that could allow Graham to get inventive in her writing and give Whitman a change as a leading lady for what would likely be a bigger movie than The Duff. There's plenty of potential here, but there's also plenty to be skeptical about. Everyone wins.
