Elizabeth Banks picks 'Next' project

Joins Paul Haggis suspense drama

By Jay A. Fernandez

Aug 24, 2009, 09:06 PM ET

Elizabeth Banks is in final negotiations to star in "The Next Three Days" for writer-director Paul Haggis at Lionsgate.

Banks will play the lead role of Laura, a woman who is imprisoned for a murder she claims she didn't commit, as her husband, the recently cast Russell Crowe, desperately tries to vindicate her.

The suspense drama is a remake of the 2008 French thriller "Pour Elle," which was written and directed by Fred Cavaye.

Haggis, his Highway 61 Films partner Michael Nozik and Fidelite's Marc Missonnier and Olivier Delbosc are producing. Lionsgate execs Alli Shearmur and Wolfgang Hammer are overseeing for the studio.

Filming is scheduled to begin next month.

Banks, who is repped by UTA and Untitled Entertainment, most recently starred in "Zach and Miri Make a Porno," "The Uninvited" and "W." She is currently shooting the comedy "The Details" opposite Tobey Maguire.

Banks is attached to star in and produce, through her Brownstone Prods., the comedy "Forever 21," which is in development at DreamWorks.

Elizabeth Banks picks 'Next' project

Joins Paul Haggis suspense drama

By Jay A. Fernandez

Aug 24, 2009, 09:06 PM ET