‘Election’ Sequel ‘Tracy Flick Can’t Win’ In Works For Paramount+; Reese Witherspoon To Produce And Return As Title Character, With Alexander Payne Directing - Deadline

Paramount Pictures has announced that Tracy Flick Can’t Win — a sequel to Alexander Payne’s cult classical 1999 drama Election — is being made for Paramount+. Payne is returning arsenic director, with the archetypal film’s pb Reese Witherspoon to nutrient and reprise her starring role.

Based connected Tom Perrotta’s 1998 novel of the aforesaid name, Election watches arsenic the precocious schoolhouse teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) finds himself connected a collision people with the over-achieving pupil politician, Tracy Flick (Witherspoon). The satire drafting parallels betwixt the worlds of precocious schoolhouse and authorities was Payne’s 2nd diagnostic connected the heels of 1996’s Citizen Ruth and proved to beryllium his breakthrough project, netting him and his collaborators 3 Independent Spirit Awards, a WGA Award and an Oscar nomination, with Witherspoon landing her archetypal Golden Globe nomination.

The Election sequel is based connected a follow-up caller by Perrotta, which was published by Scribner successful June. It’s different satirical acheronian drama that finds the eponymous Tracy successful adulthood and inactive struggling to combat her mode to the top. Payne is erstwhile again adapting the screenplay with Jim Taylor. Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter volition nutrient the movie for Hello Sunshine, a Candle Media company, alongside Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa of Bona Fide Productions (Election), with Perrotta serving arsenic enforcement producer.

In summation to Citizen Ruth and Election, Payne has antecedently helmed the Oscar-winning features Sideways and The Descendants, arsenic good arsenic the Oscar-nominated films About Schmidt and Nebraska, the 2017 Matt Damon drama Downsizing and different projects. Coming up adjacent for merchandise from Payne is the Focus Features pic The Holdovers with Paul Giamatti.

Witherspoon presently stars other Jennifer Aniston successful Apple TV+’s bid The Morning Show, having besides precocious appeared successful bid similar Little Fires Everywhere and Big Little Lies, and films similar A Wrinkle successful Time. She exec produces The Morning Show and has besides precocious produced the features Where the Crawdads Sing and Something from Tiffany’s, among galore different projects.

Perrotta is simply a bestseller whose caller Little Children was likewise adapted into an Oscar-nominated film. He’s different possibly champion known for his novels The Leftovers and Mrs. Fletcher, some of which were adapted into critically acclaimed bid for HBO.

Taylor is simply a long-time collaborator of Payne’s who has antecedently collaborated with him successful the penning of Citizen Ruth, Election, About Schmidt, Sideways (which won some an Oscar) and Downsizing. Additional credits for the writer see Juliet, Naked and I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.

Payne is repped by RadicalMedia, CAA, Bloom Hergott Diemer and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Witherspoon by CAA, LBI Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; Taylor by UTA and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; and Perrotta by WME.