Jason Reitman to Resurrect His Live Read Series With an All-Female ‘Juno’

From an outsider’s perspective, it seems like one of the most fun events in Los Angeles is filmmaker Jason Reitman’s semi-regular Live Read series. The series  —  where Reitman’s large stable of actor friends take on various roles from classic Hollywood movies  —  gives audiences a chance to hear old favorites in a slightly new way, often mixing together original cast members with new faces and genderswapping key roles with surprisingly poignant results. Past highlights have included the original cast of True Romance reuniting for a Live Read and the first public performance of Quentin Tarantino’s in-progress The Hateful Eight screenplay.

And while Reitman had previously placed the series on hold in April 2016, the filmmaker recently decided to revive Live Read with a special reading of Juno featuring original cast members Ellen Page and Jennifer Garner. According to a feature in Entertainment Weekly (via Vulture), the reading would also feature an all-female cast with proceeds from the event being donated to Planned Parenthood.

Here’s what Reitman had to say about the project:

Like many other people, I felt like I wanted to do something. I wanted to find a way to contribute to the causes that have never felt more important. It occurred to me that I have this show that could be used as a tool to not only raise money for causes that need the help, but could serve as an opportunity for a group like Planned Parenthood to connect with an audience who can be presented with new ideas, or even an action item.

Entertainment Weekly notes that Reitman’s revived series will feature movies that speak to elements of the Trump administration, including future selections on immigration and the so-called ‘fake news’ epidemic. While your guess is as good as mine, I would love to see Wag the Dog, a 1997 film about a Hollywood producer who fabricates a war to pull attention away from a presidential sex scandal, somewhere near the top of Reitman’s wishlist. Tickets are now on sale for the event, which will take place at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles on April 8, 2017.