When The Blind Side recently crossed the $200 million mark in domestic ticket sales, a Warner Bros. executive told one producer that if he could cast any movie star in a movie right now, it would be Sandra Bullock. “That’s extraordinary,” the producer said. “He was including men!”
Imagine! And as The Los Angeles Times reports, she can have the satisfaction of having bested another contender for past-forty American sweetheart (because there’s only room for one):
The feeling around Hollywood lately is that Sandra Bullock has in some ways walked off with Julia Roberts’ career. The actress opted for “The Proposal” after Roberts passed and starred in “The Blind Side,” which had been first offered to Roberts back when the film was at Fox.
Roberts, of course, also told The Los Angeles Times last March that she’s over the classic romantic comedy genre, which presumably explains her nixing The Proposal: “I can’t play those parts anymore,” she said. “It just doesn’t work for me at 41, with three kids and happily married.”
Instead, Roberts has opted for Eat, Pray, Love. Bullock doesn’t have any upcoming releases, but is listed as having four projects in development (no guarantee that they’ll pan out, and may be produced by rather than starring Bullock): The Sprinkler Queen (“A Hollywood agent tracks her AWOL action star back to his small Wisconsin town in hopes of luring him back to LA”), Kiss And Tango (about an American expat in Buenos Aires and her dancefloor affairs), Jingle (“Santa’s nastiest elf is left behind at a brat’s house, where he learns he’ll have to reform the child in order to be taken back to the North Pole”), and… One Of The Guys, described as “the story of a true guy’s gal (Bullock), who throws her all-male circle of friends into chaos when she embraces her feminine side.” Uh-oh.
Until we see that sure-to-be-fabulous film, we can only echo Manohla: “Use your power for good, Sandy!”
The Tavis Smiley Show: Sandra Bullock vs. Meryl Streep [YouTube]
Can Julia Roberts Come Back On Her Own Terms?” [LATimes]
Finally, The Year Of The Woman [The Daily Beast]
Earlier: Wait, What? Why Was Sandra Bullock The Top Money Maker In 09?
Women Over Forty: So Hot In Hollywood This Year
Fuck Them: Times Critic On Hollywood, Women, And Why Romantic Comedies Suck
Three Reasons Why Sandra Bullock Is Going To Be Just Fine
