Perennial Oscar-botherer Hilary Swank (oh, she’s not that bad) has signed on to star in Betty Anne Waters, a legal drama based on an inspiring true story.
That inspiring true story – which is not only inspiring, but also true – concerns the eponymous Betty, a high school dropout who put herself through law school – all the while she worked as a waitress and brought up her kids – with the intention of proving that her brother had been jailed for a crime he didn’t commit.
It all sounds a little too much like an unofficial remake of Erin Brockovich to us, but it’s a true (and inspiring) story, after all, so we doff our caps to Waters for having the tenacity to take on the system and secure justice for her brother.
Tony Goldwyn, who has stuck with the project through thick and thin for seven years and watched it evolve from a Universal/Working Title vehicle for Naomi Watts into its current Swanky incarnation, will finally get the chance to call ‘action!’, ‘cut!’, ‘check the gate!’ and whatever else it is that directors shout, when the movie starts filming in Michigan come January. Pamela Gray wrote the script, while Omega Entertainment will fund and distribute worldwide.
As for Swank’s interest… well, those Oscars for Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don’t Cry need some company. And going down this route worked wonders for Julia Roberts… so don’t be surprised to see our Hilary in the Oscar reckoning come early 2010…