Ever since “The Help,” we have seen Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer reunite at award shows, parties, and across social media. Now, we will see them team up on the silver screen once again. Variety reports that Chastain and Spencer will headline Universal’s upcoming holiday comedy, which follows two women determined to make it home in time for Christmas.
Fox and Paramount vied for the film, to which Chastain has been connected from the beginning. Alongside Kelly Carmichael, she wrote the original treatment and pitch. Though Peter Chiarelli (“The Proposal”) will write the script, Chastain will produce through her company, Freckle Films. Carmichael, Celine Rattray, and Trudie Styler will also produce.
Since its 2016 inception, Chastain’s Freckle Films has been devoting to hiring and developing female-led projects, including an adaptation of Nancy Horan’s “Loving Frank” and an exploration of an all-female anti-poaching unit in South Africa.
Spencer has also joined the producing game. Future projects include an HBO adaptation of “Raven: The Untold Story of Jim Jones and His People,” and a miniseries about entrepreneur and philanthropist Madam C.J. Walker. She recently received an NAACP Image Award for her work in “Gifted” and was nominated for a Golden Globe for “The Shape of Water,” which is still in theaters.
Chastain is the titular character in Aaron Sorkin’s poker drama “Molly’s Game,” in theaters now. Her next film, Susanna White’s Catherine Weldon biopic “Woman Walks Ahead,” is expected to be released sometime this year.
