Nora Ephron will write and direct for Columbia an adaptation of the Julie Powell book "Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen."
Powell was verging on 30 and frustrated in a temp secretary job when she took on a yearlong culinary quest: cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She chronicled her trials and tribulations in a blog that caught on with the food crowd and led to a book deal.
Eric Steel and Amy Robinson will produce the pic. Dana Stevens exec produces.
Robinson said the late Child will figure into the plotline, including her early exploits as a spy, before she was introduced to a love of French cuisine by her husband, Paul Child.
Ephron, an accomplished cook, sparked to the cuisine aspect and the way it unlocked a journey that pulls the protag out of a rut.
"Julia Child is such an important figure in my life, and also appealing was the chance to focus on the madness of blogging," Ephron said.Ephron, who previously made the computer a plot point in "You've Got Mail" and incorporated recipes into "Heartburn," will begin turning the book into a romantic comedy right away. It's unclear whether it will become the next film she directs.
Ephron last helmed "Bewitched" for Columbia.
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