Rooney Mara replaces Blake Lively in Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Last week, Jake told you all about the unfortunate loss of funding Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller THE SIDE EFFECTS had suffered; Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures dropped out of the project, leaving it with a serious lack of cash. Jake wondered what this meant for the cast – would they all stay on board, or would one or more of them jump ship?

As it turns out, at least one of the stars has indeed jumped: Blake Lively, who was set to play the film’s lead character. No reason has been offered for the departure, but all you really need to know is that the Gossip Girl is out…

However, her shoes have already been filled – with an Oscar nominee’s feet, no less. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO star Rooney Mara is now tackling the role of a troubled and depressed woman who begins taking serious amounts of prescription drugs, when she gets into a relationship with a doctor. Her intake is ostensibly designed to help her deal with the anxiety surrounding the pending release of her husband from prison.

While THE SIDE EFFECTS is still searching for funds, it would appear as though the rest of the cast – Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones – is sticking it out for the foreseeable future. (They’ve all worked with Soderbergh in the past, so perhaps loyalty is playing a role.) We’ll keep an eye on the development of THE SIDE EFFECTS while hoping it finds the dough it needs to get through production.