ElijahKelley Tagged Articles at Cinematical

VH1 is claiming Elijah Kelley will play Sammy Davis Jr. in an upcoming biopic, although they might be jumping the gun. Last month, he let it slip that he was in talks to play the iconic Rat Packer, but now he's allowed to get at least a little chatty. Kelley told VH1: "It's going pretty well... Something is definitely in the works to be done on that project, and that's a dream project for me. I feel like that would open so many avenues and so many doors." If he can pull off this performance, he's probably right, but those are some big shoes to fill. Kelley went on to say: "I want to capture what actually made him what he was. He got really commercialized as he got older, [but] I just want to show everybody, along with the producers, how he came to be the way he was." That being said, there will be some cameos by Sammy's rat-pack cohorts later in the film.

Dealing with the performer's youth should help the project stand up against its competitors, also fighting for the Davis Jr. spotlight -- Denzel Washington and Brian Grazer are producing Black and White, and there's another one out there, Sammy and Kim, that details his relationship with actress Kim Novak. While there is bound to be overlap -- Washington's project seems to be the all-encompassing feature to the specific bits of time for the other two -- it'll be nice to get detailed pieces of his life, rather than dueling biopics that cover the same material, like the recent Capote features. Kelley says of the competition: "I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and keeping my prayers up. You know what? It's like this: I just want to make the project a quality project. Regardless of whether there's 25 of them out, [I want to make] the one that's supposed to be seen, and supposed to be heard, and supposed to be felt." Now we've just got to wait for the project to gear up and see what they make of it.

Well, I guess we can add another name to the list of actors competing for the role of the late great Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr. While doing some press with MTV for Hairspray, star Elijah Kelley let it slip that he is in talks to play the legendary song and dance man. Now, here's where it starts to get a little complicated for Kelley. A couple of weeks ago, Jette had word that there were three competing Davis projects in active development. The forerunners are a co-production between Denzel Washington and Brian Grazer based on the 2003 biography In Black and White, and a film with André Benjamin that focuses on the relationship between Davis and actress Kim Novak. Kelley would be reuniting with Hairspray producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron for his chance to play the candy man; he says that he would be playing Davis between the age of 15 to 25, which were the years that "made him Sammy Davis Jr."

Kelley is not waiting around for this role though, and has already signed with New Line for Party Up, a movie that revolves around the treasured standby of all teen comedies, the house party gone awry. And since it's all just speculation at this point, it's way too early to tell if Kelley could even handle the more dramatic aspects of Davis' life. We know that he can rock a finger wave, but first, we are going to have to wait and see who emerges victorious in the "battle of the biopics."

I saw Hairspray last night, and really enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of John Waters' original movie and I thought the Broadway musical was fantastic -- so I'm pleased to report that they don't mess up the material. Aside from the miscast John Travolta, giving a bizarre performance that has him looking like Miss Piggy and talking like Dr. Evil, the cast was exceptional. Newcomer Nikki Blonsky, a still gorgeous Michelle Pfieffer, and a surprisingly terrific James Marsden were standouts, and Christopher Walken easily stole the show. When I got home after the movie, I went on imdb to find out who played Seaweed J. Stubbs, one of the film's excellent young leads, and one of the few actors I didn't recognize in the film. Turns out it was Elijah Kelley, who has just been cast in New Line's Party Up.

Listed as an "urban comedy" (and when did the "urban" tag become socially acceptable? Strikes me as a little off-putting), Party Up will focus on "kids who set out to throw the biggest high school party ever, but their resourcefulness is tested when the party's location falls apart at the last minute." OK, so it's not the most original movie premise ever. New Line had a run of similar films in the 90s with the House Party series, starring rappers Kid n' Play. You know, the duo that was like Kriss Kross with an Eraserhead haircut? I recall loving the original House Party (wasn't as impressed with "The Pajama Jam," and I didn't see the third), so hopefully they can capture some of that film's vibe here. By the way, bonus points for anyone who can name me one Kid-N-Play song without the aid of Google. I've been wracking my brain here, and haven't come up with anything.

John Waters 1988 hit movie-turned-Broadway-musical is heading back to the big screen on July 20 -- this time as a musical -- with Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner) at the helm and a bevy of A-list stars in the cast. We have an exclusive first look at 10 Hairspray character posters below, from an in-drag John Travolta to a still-smokin' Michelle Pfeiffer. Click on the images for larger versions.

Newcomer Nikki Blonsky stars as Tracy Turnblad, a chubby teen who wins a spot on the American Bandstand-esque Corny Collins Show in 1962 Baltimore. Amanda Bynes plays Tracy's saucy best pal Penny Pingleton.

John Travolta plays the plump Edna Turnblad, mother of the aforementioned aspiring dancer. Yes, that's correct: A virtually unrecognizable Travolta plays a woman. And he's married to Christopher Walken. Great stuff.