Katherine Heigl is set to star in a role previously occupied by Hollywood’s other darling blond leading lady, Reese Witherspoon. Heigl will take over the starring role in ONE FOR THE MONEY, a long-gestating project Witherspoon had been attached to for some time. The film, once in a holding pattern, has now been fast-tracked for Columbia Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment.

Based on Janet Evanovich’s novel of the same name, ONE FOR THE MONEY will follow Heigl’s Stephanie Plum, “an unemployed lingerie buyer who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet.” What is most interesting about the Plum series (besides Evanovich’s cutesy way of including a sequential number in most Plum titles – see “Two for the Dough,” “High Five,” and “Lean Mean Thirteen”), is the fact that there are fifteen Plum books (with sixteen out this summer). If MONEY is a hit, Heigl may just have a franchise on her hands.

Despite penning over thirty novels, ONE FOR THE MONEY will mark the first film adaptation for an Evanovich book. The script has been written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (who previously penned the Heigl hit THE UGLY TRUTH). Liz Brixius (“Nurse Jackie”) will be giving the script a final draft.

Source Variety