WISEGIRLS - Synopsis
MIRA. MARIAH. MELORA. MAYHEM.


David Anspaugh's mix of female bonding and mob drama, Wisegirls concerns a trio of waitresses. Meg (Oscar winner Mira Sorvino), wise-talking Raychel (Mariah Carey), and wannabe dancer Kate (Melora Walters) grow close while working at an Italian restaurant. After saving a man's life at the eatery thanks to her time in medical school, Meg begins to realize that the establishment is mob-controlled. Soon she must hide the dead body of her boss (whose "whacking" she indirectly caused). Eventually, Meg discovers secrets about her two friends and is forced to risk her life in order to gain information on the mobsters. This mix of gangster film and female bonding screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

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Lionsgate Press Release

You have the power! We have: 3 Big-Time Stars-
Academy Award Winner Mira Sorvino ("Mighty Aphrodite", "The Great Gatsby")

Super Pop Diva Mariah Carey (In addition to selling millions of albums and perfoming in top venues such as Madison Square Garden, she sang the title song "When You Believe" for "The Prince Of Egypt" and composed the main theme "Where Are You Christmas?" for "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas")

Famke Janssen ("X-Men", "Rounders", "The Gingerbread Man")

A BIG-TIME DIRECTOR- David Anspaugh ("Rudy", "Hoosiers")
A BIG-TIME EXEC PRODUCER- Richard Donner ("Lethal Weapon", "X-Men")


ANNNNNNND A KICK-ASS STORY!

Listen to me friend--the word is spreading on the streets. There's this waitress....She got mixed up with the mob (again!). She's smart, she's sexy, she's not the best waitress at first, but hey, nobody's perfect! She's just trying to leave her entanglements with the mob and her dead boyfriend behind in one city to take up a new life in another city. She makes friends with a couple of other waitresses, they bond and life is good. End of story, right? Well, as her luck would have it, the one-time medical student's skills are needed. The Wiseguys who frequent the restaurant she works at, let's just say are, accident-prone. You probably know the Mafia likes to return favors and are generous tippers if you're one of them.

Additional information:
Wisegirls (Mafia Drama)
Three waitresses test friendship, loyalty and betrayal working for the Mafia in an Italian restaurant.
Budget - $11M
Status - Funded film. Tentative starting date for production of 2/01/01.
Pre-production starting date 11/01/00. Whitney Houston expressed interest; attachment dependent upon director approval.

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WISEGIRLS - PLOT
Release Date: TBA 2002
World Premiere: January 13th, 2002, 2002 Sundance Film Festival (Special Screening)
Title Note: (5/5/01) The title, which is a play on the mob term, "wise guy", is variously listed as either Wisegirls or Wise Girls.
Distributor: Lions Gate Films
Production Company: Leading Lion Entertainment
Cast: Mira Sorvino, Mariah Carey, Melora Walters, Richard C. Castellano, Arthur J. Nascarella; other cast not announced yet.
Cast Note: (5/10/01) According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jenna Elfman may be replacing Melora Walters. The confusing part here is that this news comes from their Cannes listing. The question is whether or not the listing was written before or after Walters' announcement.
Director: David Anspaugh (Moonlight and Valentino, Hoosiers, Rudy, Fresh Horses)
Director Note: When this project was first announced in June, 2000, it was as a possible next film for Demian Lichtenstein (3,000 Miles to Graceland).
Screenwriter: John Meadows (debut)
Premise: This story revolves around the daily lives of three waitresses (Sorvino, Carey, Walters) who work at a restaurant run by the mafia (where the secret item on the menu is drugs), and end up getting involved with their bosses' "business".
Premise Note: (8/23/01) Army Archerd of Variety has reported something that most people would call a "spoiler." Scroll over the following space to see the general gist of the story: (Writing about the recent mental stress that Mariah Carey has been dealing with, Army reports that the ending has been changed. Originally, the three waitress died at the end, but now (presumably), they don't.)
Filming: Production is scheduled to start in mid-May, 2001 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on a budget of around $10 million.