No really, this is happening. A film based on What to Expect When You’re Expecting, that classic pregnancy manual, is in the works. There’s no news about the cast or director yet, but the screenwriter is the woman who wrote Whip It!, that roller derby movie with Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore, and the word is that it will have the same sort of structure as Love Actually and Valentine’s Day, revolving around five expecting couples.
I don’t feel good about this. Have you guys read this book? I did back when I was 10 and my sister got knocked up, mostly because I was told that I’d be helping take care of the baby and also because I read pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I still remember a lot of the book (I was also the best, most knowledgeable aunt ever), but I don’t think I ever thought “you know what should happen to this book? A dramatization.” Somehow reading about the effects of different drugs and alcohol on a fetus and learning what an episiotomy was didn’t scream “rom com” to me.
What do you guys think? Is this book too factual for an adaptation, or would you be willing to give the finished product a chance?
Woody Allen did a movie based on the 60’s classic “Everything you ever wanted to know about sex…but were afraid to ask” so anything is possible.
That book is dreadful. The whole gist of it is “Don’t do this thing, but if you already did, it’s fine! No problem!”. It’s so patronizing and idiotic. If all someone is looking for is reassurance, then fine. But if you want real INFO, don’t look here. That said, it’ll probably make a far better rom-com than it did a pregnancy manual! lol.
I think it has a chance, but it depends on the direction they go with it. They could just be factual, but that would be stupid. If they take it in a sort of comical direction, but with very real truths to what it’s like to raise a baby, it might be pretty cool. I mean, think “3 Men and a Baby” or “Look Who’s Talking”, where they show very real issues like learning how to change a diaper, to excessive crying, and kind of make light of them with comedy, but also showing the very real stresses of parenthood. If they take it in a slightly comical direction, and based on this screenwriter’s previous work it would be likely, it would be worthwhile, I think.