Eat Pray Love has finally hit SA shores after the success of its best-selling book and months of anticipation. The film, which stars Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, James Franco and Richard Jenkins, was seen by 117 266 fans in its opening weekend alone in South Africa. The Socialite finds out more…

Grossing just under R3 million, Eat Pray Love has enchanted South Africans with its beautiful images and positive ‘let yourself go’ theme. “Everybody has a journey, a moment in their lives when they need to redefine who they are and what they’re looking for,” says Roberts.  “Liz’s journey is very specific and very visual, in a way that’s very appealing as a story, but it’s also a universal story that can apply to anybody.”

Gilbert’s memoir – a self-described search for everything – has achieved extraordinary success, selling over 6.2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 40 languages. 

It is the book that attracted Roberts to the project, along with the chance to work with Ryan Murphy, the film’s co-writer/director.  “I love the way the book talks about life experience, searching for answers, and how meaningful people can be in our lives.  I think that’s really such a vibrant story.  It’s great to be part of it, and part of it with Ryan at the helm of it – it was a delicious endeavor,” says the actress.

Liz Gilbert (played by Julia Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having a husband, a house, a successful career yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali. Based upon the bestselling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love proves that there really is more than one way to let yourself go and see the world.