Shailene Woodley Joins Alexander Payne’s THE DESCENDANTS

Variety says young actress Shailene Woodley (ABC’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager) will star alongside George Clooney in the adaptation of THE DESCENDANTS from director Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt). Clooney brought the best out of young actress Anna Kendrick in Up In The Air last fall, could the same luck happen to Woodley?
THE DESCENDANTS; is based on the book by author Kaui Hart Hemmings. No cast yet but Payne is polishing the script written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, production starts in February 2010 in Hawaii…

Here is the official synopsis of the book THE DESCENDANTS…
Narrated in a bold, fearless, hilarious voice and set against the lush, panoramic backdrop of Hawaii, The Descendants is a stunning debut novel about an unconventional family forced to come together and re-create its own legacy.
Matthew King was once considered one of the most fortunate men in Hawaii. His missionary ancestors were financially and culturally progressive–one even married a Hawaiian princess, making Matt a royal descendant and one of the state’s largest landowners.

Now his luck has changed. His two daughters are out of control: Ten-year-old Scottie is a smart-ass with a desperate need for attention, and seventeen-year-old Alex, a former model, is a recovering drug addict. Matt’s charismatic, thrill-seeking, high-maintenance wife, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident and will soon be taken off life support. The Kings can hardly picture life without her, but as they come to terms with this tragedy, their sadness is mixed with a sense of freedom that shames them–and spurs them into surprising actions.

Before honoring Joanie’s living will, Matt must gather her friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation made worse by the sudden discovery that there is one person who hasn’t been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an affair, quite possibly the one man she ever truly loved. Forced to examine what he owes not only to the living but to the dead, Matt takes to the road with his daughters to find his wife’s lover, a memorable journey that leads to both painful revelations and unforeseen humor and growth.