Tate Taylor is attached to direct “Watchmen” and “Fargo” star Jean Smart in a biographical film about the life of Trisha Mitchell Coburn called “Miss Macy” at Amblin Partners, the studio announced Monday.
Amblin is developing the film that has Taylor attached to direct and produce, with Pulitzer Prize winner Beth Henley (“Crimes of the Heart,” “Nobody’s Fool”) writing the script.
The film will tell the true story of a young girl, who is plucked from her unhappy home life and set on a path
for success by an eccentric woman and mentor who sees something special in her. Smart will star as the title character.
Producing alongside Taylor is Denise Di Novi, president of Di Novi Pictures, and Margaret French Isaac. Smart, Mitchell Coburn, John Norris and Angeliki Giannakopoulos will executive produce.
Giannakopoulos, along with Smart, identified Mitchell Coburn’s story as an idea for a powerful movie and brought it to Di Novi Pictures. “Miss Macy” sold in a bidding war to Amblin.
Holly Bario, Amblin Partners’ president of production, and Mia Maniscalco, VP of creative affairs, will oversee the project for the studio.
Smart is a three-time Emmy winner and Tony Award nominee, and she won the 2020 Critics’ Choice Award for her role in “Watchmen.” She’ll next appear in “Superintelligence” alongside Melissa McCarthy and the limited series “Mare of Easttown” opposite Kate Winslet.
Smart is represented by WME, Untitled Entertainment and attorney James Adams. Giannakopoulos is represented by attorney James Adams. Trisha Mitchell Coburn is represented by attorney Emerson Bruns.
Deadline first reported the news of the project.