'A Good Woman' with Helen Hunt debuts 2005

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Lions Gate Films, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has acquired the North American distribution rights to the movie "A Good Woman," starring Helen Hunt.

The feature film, adapted from the Oscar Wilde play "Lady Windermere's Fan," will premiere in 2005.

"Mike Barker and this cast deliver one of the best Wilde adaptations in years," said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate Films Releasing. "I am confident that this film has a winning combination of humor and drama played out on screen by some of the best actors working today."

The film, directed by Mike Barker and written by Howard Himelstein, also stars Scarlett Johansson and Tom Wilkinson.

Set in New York and the Italian Riviera during the 1930s, Hunt plays Mrs. Erlynne, an audacious and well-known woman of a certain age with a reputation for entertaining wealthy, married men. Leaving her problems and unpaid bills in New York, she sets sail for Italy to pursue Meg, played by Johansson. In Europe, she becomes embroiled in a family scandal.