by Josh Grossberg
Jan 19, 2005, 10:15 AM PT
E Online
Here's a Julia Roberts project that Phinnaeus and Hazel can get behind.
The Pretty Mother, who gave birth to twins in November, has agreed to voice the titular spider at the heart of Paramount Pictures' big-screen version of E.B. White's classic children's fable Charlotte's Web.
Joining Roberts in the upcoming live-action/CGI feature's barnyard is a slew of A-listers: Oprah Winfrey will voice Gussy, the maternal goose; John Cleese, Samuel the sheep; Steve Buscemi, the barn's sneaky Rat Templeton; and Cedric the Entertainer as the other goose, Golly.
Reba McEntire and Kathy Bates are also aboard as the barn's ironic cows, Betsy and Bitsy, while Sideways star Thomas Haden Church and hip-hopster AndrŽ Benjamin (aka OutKast's AndrŽ 3000) will provide the vocals for the two thick-headed crows, Brooks and Elwyn, respectively.
Dakota Fanning, who appears this month in theaters opposite Robert De Niro in the thriller Hide and Seek, has already been cast in the live-action role of Fern, the young farm girl who stops her father from killing a poor little piglet because he's the runt of the litter. She adopts the porker, whom she names Wilbur. The story follows the friendship between the Charlotte and a bevy of barnyard animals, among them Wilbur.
Considered one of the most beloved children's tales of all time, Charlotte's Web was published in 1952, has sold 45 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 23 different languages. A cartoon version was made in 1973, featuring the voices of Paul Lynde, Henry Gibson, Debbie Reynolds and Charles Nelson Reilly.
The new film adaptation will be helmed by Gary Winick, who most recently directed Jennifer Garner in last year's comedy 13 Going On 30. The screenplay will be cowritten by Susannah Grant and Karey Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatric penned the script for another farm fable, DreamWorks' Chicken Run. Grant's writing credits include the 1998 fantasy film Ever After and an Oscar nod for Roberts' 2000 smash, Erin Brockovich.
Charlotte's Web will be coproduced by Edgar Bronfman, Jordan Kerner and his Kerner Entertainment banner, Walden Media, Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount.
Cameras are set to begin rolling in Australia on Jan. 31.
For Roberts, a few days worth of voice work on Charlotte's Web won't much affect her decision to take time off from movie-making to spend time with fraternal twins Hazel and Phinnaeus (who suspiciously sound like a couple of E.B. White characters).
Aside from Charlotte's Web, Roberts' post-partum plans include a role in Mike Nichols' The Seven-Year Switch, which won't begin shooting until Roberts is done with diaper duty.
