In a move which proves that Hollywood is absolutely obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence and that they believe anyone will watch anything as long as she is starring in it, director David Russell has signed The Hunger Games actress to star in his new biopic, Joy.
Joy portrays the story of Joy Mangano, a Long Island housewife turned inventor and Home Shopping Network mogul. Mangano began her entrepreneurship through the creation of a fluorescent flea collar while volunteering at an animal clinic. Unfortunately for Mangano, Hartz released a similar product soon after, leading Mangano to vow that she would take her next invention to market as soon as she could.
That invention became the Miracle Mop – a mop with interlocking handles which would allow one to wring water out of the mop without dirtying one’s hands. Since the mop hit shelves in 1990, it has sold over five million units. The mop-selling business was not always so lucrative, however. Mangano began by selling the mops locally, and hit her big break when she sold the 10,000 mops to QVC. While sales of the mop were stagnant at first, it was Mangano’s spirit which led to record-breaking sales of the mops: ”I asked them to let me go on the air and demonstrate it myself. I knew I could sell it if I could show people what I had in mind when I designed it and how well it really worked,” Mangano recalled. Her pitch turned out better than anyone could have expected, with QVC selling 18,000 mops in 20 minutes.
Jennifer Lawrence Set To Mop Up Oscar Competition With Film ‘Joy’ – http://t.co/V1JSA4vdGA
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Now, Mangano is the president of Ingenious Designs, Inc., which is now owned by USA Networks and the Home Shopping Network, upon which one can often find Mangano selling her inventions.
While Mangano’s story seems to be the typical, heart-warming rags-to-riches story, it may violate many Hollywood expectations when it hits theaters on Christmas Day next year. David Russell, Oscar-nominated director of The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, will direct Lawrence for his third time, while the script will be written by Annie Mumolo, co-writer of the comedy Bridesmaids.
For Lawrence, the decision to play the part of Joy Mangano in Russell’s newest film was a no brainer. Lawrence has worked with Russell on both Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, winning the Best Actress Oscar for the former and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the latter. On Good Morning America, Lawrence expressed how simple the decision was:
He recently texted me at, I think, 4 in the morning, and was like, ‘I think I want to make a movie about the woman who invented the [Miracle] Mop. You want to do it?’ And I was like, yeah… I could just imagine David looking at somebody mopping and being like, ‘Yeah, that’s my next screenplay.’
The combination of Russell and Lawrence is seemingly undefeatable at the box office, but producer Fox has chosen a competitive weekend on which to release the film, with Kung Fu Panda 3 and Mission: Impossible 5 opening on the same date (and only one week after Star Wars Episode VII). However, if all goes as expected, one can expect to see Lawrence and Russell racking up the Oscars once again.
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