Wait - we *don't* want J. Lo to die?
Filed under: Drama, Music & Musicals, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
Every studio in Hollywood has
apparently refused to finance Ray director Taylor Hackford's latest pet project, a feature based on Georges
Bizet's classic opera Carmen, starring Jennifer Lopez. Bizet's opera is a dark, tragic tale of a gypsy whose
daliances with a soldier and a bullfighter bring down both men, and bring their respective political struggles to a
head. Hackford says the suits are afraid of putting Lopez, whose fan base is largely comprised of teenage girls, into a
serious, potentially R-rated project in which the heroine is eventually killed. "There is a great deal of fear in
Hollywood," Hackford tells the NY Daily News, based on the fact that "many of the films are not
working," with moviegoers. "We want to do a tough, hard version, but Hollywood thinks [Lopez'] audience is
13-year-old girls." The suits couldn't really be trying to get Hackford to make his project adolescent-friendly – and if they are, it's only because they've never seen that MTV version of Carmen, starring Beyonce and subtitled, "A Hip-Hopera". The 12-21 year old audience has, I think, been served an adequete helping of Bizet. It makes perfect sense that no one would back a serious, expensive, drama (and it's not even clear whether or not Hackford plans to make it a musical) starring Jennifer Lopez, who has proven bankable only in romantic comedies and as an actress, has by most accounts never lived up to promise she showed in Out of Sight. The real question is: why doesn't Hackford just go get himself another ingenue? Last I heard, there were one or two other Latina actresses in the world...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-04-2006 @ 2:03PM
E. Kohn said...
Well, "Ray" did make people take Jamie Foxx seriously— the film even gave credence to his supporting actor nom for "Collateral." If Taylor can do the same for J. Lo, it could usher in some good stuff...maybe.
Reply
1-04-2006 @ 3:23PM
Ruben Santiago said...
Well there is Roselyn Sanchez, Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz as latin actresses but please I mean Jennifer Lopez has the most star of any of them. She may not be the best actor per say. But I mean come on besides the fact that Jennifer's movies are based on comdies she still can bring in a good audience with the right co-stars on board. And The Cell was not a comedy and made a respectable amount of money. Soo???
Reply
1-04-2006 @ 5:42PM
lindenen said...
Yeah, but The Cell came out before JLo went out in the world and made herself a laughing stock. For once, the studios are right. There's also the fact that Hackford imo sucks. If you want the make Carmen, try to get someone like Sam Mendes.
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