Mike Fleming

320498EXCLUSIVE: Halle Berry has committed to lead an ensemble cast in Shoe Addicts Anonymous, an adaptation of the bestselling St. Martin’s Press novel by Beth Harbison. Directing is Paul Weiland, the British helmer whose film credits include Made of Honour and whose TV work includes the series Mr. Bean and Blackadder: Back & Forth.

The comedy looks at the lives of four Chicago women from different ethnic backgrounds, bonded by two things. They are shoe addicts who wear the same size. They form a support group, swap 7.5s and become—wait for it—sole sisters. Eventually their bond goes beyond footwear. Berry will play an agoraphobe who feeds her addiction with online footwear purchases. The film’s her first comedy since Bulworth.

The script was written by Kristen Buckley & Brian Regan (How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days), the film’s produced by Galgos Entertainment’s Russell Nuce and Mark Bozek, and Parallel Media’s Raymond Markovich and Arcadiy Golubovich. Parallel is financing the film and handling foreign sales. No domestic distributor yet. They are about to cast the other actresses.

Berry will make the film before she stars on Broadway in Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop, which is being directed by Fences helmer Kenny Leon. She plays a hotel maid who delivers a meal to Martin Luther King Jr., on the evening before he’s assassinated.