United States of Diablo

Diablo Cody is in it for the long haul, or so she hopes. She’s got Jennifer’s Body upcoming, and now Showtime is fast-tracking the Diablo Cody/Steven Spielberg joint The United States of Tara. Toni Collette will star as the multi-personality Tara who tries to parent while she “copes with the various identities that may appear on any given day and range in age, temperament and even gender,” said the network.

Showtime makes its thumb print:

“Showtime is known as the home of several shows featuring flawed main characters, and we welcome Tara — and all her alternate personalities — to the fold,” said Robert Greenblatt, president of entertainment for Showtime.

My question about Cody remains — will she be able to get out of the way of her own work? She kind of eclipses everything so far, up to and including Juno (directed by the invisible man Jason Reitman). Megan Fox may eclipse her when Jennifer’s Body opens but will United States of Tara ever be anything other than something Diablo Cody wrote? I don’t know the answer but I’m kind of digging it that there’s a girl person out there whose name (as a writer) precedes her.