Reese Witherspoon, Robert De Niro circling “The Intern” comedy

PanARMENIAN.Net - Reese Witherspoon is in discussions to star in the Nancy Meyers-helmed The Intern. She's serious enough that she is reportedly turning up at the American Film Market today, where Lotus Entertainment is shopping the project to foreign buyers, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Robert De Niro is also circling.

Scott Rudin is producing the independently financed film, which was originally set up at Paramount (the studio is no longer involved). Worldview Entertainment has come aboard to finance the comedy.

Tina Fey was initially attached to star when the project was packaged by WME. CAA, which reps Witherspoon, Meyers and De Niro, is now putting together the deal, which a source says is at a delicate stage.

Meyers wrote the screenplay, which centers on the owner of a successful fashion website (Witherspoon) who bonds with the elderly intern her company has hired (De Niro).

In recent days, the project has popped up on the radar of international sales agents and foreign buyers preparing for the American Film Market, which gets underway Wednesday. Over the weekend, at least one buyer was told that The Intern could be shopped at AFM with Witherspoon and De Niro's names in the mix. Selling off foreign rights would help cover the production budget, which is said to be upwards of $30 million.

Meyers recently exited an untitled romantic comedy at Sony.

Witherspoon, who recently switched managers from Management 360's Evelyn O'Neill to LBI Entertainment's Rick Yorn, most recently played a supporting role in Jeff Nichols' Mud and starred in the Atom Egoyan-helmed Devil's Knot, which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. The Oscar-winning actress is currently shooting Jean-Marc Vallee's Wild.

Her upcoming roles also include Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice.