Hilary Swank buys film rights to French Paradox book

Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank has bought the film rights to best-selling lifestyle book French Women Don’t Get Fat.

According to news agency AFP, the 34-year-old US star (pictured) will produce a romantic comedy based on the book, which extols the virtues of a continental diet – meals rich in fat and carbohydrates.

Written by Mireille Guiliano, a former executive with Champagne house Veuve Clicquot, the book examines the reasons why Guiliano, who was used to a continental diet of bread, pastries, wine, and three-course meals, went to the US as an exchange student and ‘came back fat’.

According to Guiliano, the book ‘unlocks the secrets of the “French Paradox” – how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy’.

The book topped the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list and has sold over 2m copies worldwide.

Although not as wine-led as recent wine films Bottle Shock and Sideways, according to reports, the film’s protagonist will be the boss of a Champagne house.

Swank has won two Academy Awards (Oscars): one for her role in the 1999 film Boys Don’t Cry and one, in 2005, for her portrayal of a boxer in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby.

Written by Oliver Styles