Emma Stone to star in new female-driven comedy

Emma Stone is set to star in new female-driven comedy Women In Business.

After a heated bidding war involving multiple studios, The Hollywood Reporter claims that Fox has nabbed a comedy script by Laura Steinel for the film, with Emma tipped to star alongside Kate McKinnon and Jillian Bell. The movie also has Jake Szymanski, who directed Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, attached to helm.

In addition to the strong cast, the narrative apparently focuses on cutthroat career women going to great and perhaps comedic lengths, to succeed professionally rather than romantically.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film centres "on two competitive women who are sent on a business trip to Canada. There, they hire a third woman off Craigslist to act as their intern, which derails their trip."

Women in Business will return Emma to the comedy genre that launched her star in hits such as Superbad and Easy A. In the meantime, the 27-year-old has most recently been seen in Woody Allen's Irrational Man, features in upcoming musical La La Land alongside Ryan Gosling as well as the Billie Jean King biopic, Battle of Sexes. She is also attached to a live-action Cruella de Vil project at Disney.

The comedy will mark Kate's latest departure from the small screen, where she is one of the star cast members of Saturday Night Live. Up next, the 32-year-old appears in the Ghostbusters reboot that re-unites Bridesmaids power trio Paul Feig, Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy.

Meanwhile, Jillian, 31, had a breakout movie role in 22 Jump Street, and also had roles in Seth Rogen's holiday comedy The Night Before and Goosebumps.

Women in Business does not yet have a tentative release date but, given the current debate surrounding gender equality and diversity in Hollywood, it's likely to start filming sooner rather than later.