My Fair Lady Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Last summer, it was reported that Columbia was setting up a remake of My Fair Lady and that Keira Knightley was pursuing the iconic, Cockney role of Eliza Doolittle. While Knightley has been "attached" ever since, The Telegraph reports that Scarlett Johansson was also vying for the role. But Knightley won out, and the Telegraph not only confirms that she's got the role, but that Joe Wright will be directing. Emma Thompson is writing the script.

Knightley has been taking singing lessons ever since the possibility came up (and I actually think she proved she had a good voice in The Edge of Love), and I think she'll be absolutely charming as Doolittle. But then I'm biased towards her. Even if you aren't (and I expect many "too skinny!" comments), I think the combination of Wright and Thompson pushes this into very, very promising territory. Thompson can do no wrong by me.

What will really tip the balance is who they cast as the grumpy, misogynist Professor Henry Higgins. The Telegraph reports that Daniel Craig is being considered, and he'd certainly be ideal as the grim Higgins, probably moreso than the dapper Hugh Jackman. I wouldn't mind seeing Patrick Wilson become a contender, and I half wonder if Gerard Butler's vocal chords were trotted out on Saturday Night Live as an audition. Just you wait, and practice your R's, and we'll see whose face Knightley must become accustomed to.

UPDATE: Screenrush caught up with Joe Wright, who says he never signed on, and is uninterested. Given the shakiness of the initial report, it's unclear whether Knightley's casting is official either.

I'm not sure which part of this story is the most surprising -- the fact that they are really remaking My Fair Lady, or that Keira Knightley wants the lead. Decide amongst yourselves.

According to Variety, Columbia Pictures is prepping the remake, which will be produced by Duncan Kenworthy and Cameron Mackintosh, as we speak. While they are calling it an update of the musical, it's not a drastic one. The movie will keep the 1912 setting and the score, but introduce more story elements from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.

They plan to develop Eliza's character a bit more, giving her additional emotional depth, and dramatizing her highs and lows. I actually really like that idea, as I always found her rather cartoonish, and her return to Professor Higgins a bit perplexing. They also plan to shoot in the real London locations, from Drury Lane to the Ascot racecourse, as opposed to the soundstages of 1964. They may top the locations, but they'll never beat Cecil Beaton's iconic and stunning costumes.

(In honor of Mother's Day, we're launching a series of posts today written, in part, by our mothers after we asked them one simple (yet very complex) question: What's your favorite movie and why?)

My mother, Deanna, is not much of a cinephile, but she claims to have at least learned from me different ways of appreciating movies. For example, she was always a huge Rogers and Hammerstein fan, and still cites The Sound of Music and South Pacific, as well as the non-R&H musical My Fair Lady, as some of her favorite films. But after I went to film school in the mid-90s, she became a fan of Quentin Tarantino dialogue and added Reservoir Dogs and True Romance to her list. However, it was dropping out of college that caused her to subjectively choose Good Will Hunting as her most favorite movie of all time:

"I love GWH very much because of how much the lead character reminds me of my son (Christopher) and how gifted/intelligent he is ... and how frustrated friends and family of his (like Will's) were when he decided there was no need to return to college and get his degree ... etc. But now that Christopher, as Will did, has come to his senses (!!!!) and did go back to school ... and he graduates with honors this month ... and how happy Chistopher's friend's and family and especially his MOM are.... well, I won't tell you the ending! You'll just have to watch the film and come listen to me brag on and on and on about my Christopher!!!!"

Pygmalion is just a handful of years shy of its 100th birthday, but it's still going strong. Props to George Bernard Shaw for creating a story that's been hugely successful as both itself, and it's My Fair Lady remake. Now, we'll see if the trend will continue. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Weinstein Company has nabbed the worldwide rights to Bridie Clark's new novel -- I Think She's Got It. The title, of course, plays on My Fair Lady, when Eliza masters "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain." Also, while the title might have "her" getting it all, the W's literally have it all -- by "rights" I mean publishing, film, and television rights.

The novel is described as a modern-day retelling of Pygmalion -- "the Manhattan-set novel centers on a shy Midwesterner who is transformed into a sophisticated socialite by a man-about-town who insists he can turn anyone into the latest 'it' girl." Unfortunately, you won't be able to see for yourself yet. According to THR, Weinstein Books won't even be publishing the novel until 2009. After that, they'll look into both film and television projects -- a hopefully-hit movie with television series, perhaps? I wonder where the rain will fall this time.

This is the second bit of novel news for Clark, the ex-book/magazine editor. She published Because She Can, which is about "a beleaguered young book editor working for a notoriously tyrannical female publisher," earlier this year.

I don't know about you, but I just couldn't see Warren Beatty playing Richard Nixon. Fortunately he won't be, but for some reason he was almost cast as the former U.S. President in Ron Howard's next project, Frost/Nixon. If you think it would have been a good idea, then maybe you should write up a script about the Nixon and Kennedy debates -- and if you get Beatty to play Tricky Dick, then maybe you can get Leonardo DiCaprio to play JFK.

Apparently now that Beatty is no longer in talks for Howard's film, which you may recall is based on the play by Peter Morgan, a more proper choice for the role is being considered. Frank Langella, who played the part on stage, is in negotiations to reprise his performance for the screen. The casting of Langella will certainly make more sense than the casting of Beatty, because the play's other star, Michael Sheen, has also been in talks to reprise his own role, as television interviewer David Frost.

Langella should have been considered from the beginning, but obviously he isn't a big enough star for Hollywood to think of right away, despite all the acclaim he received for his work in the play. So as payback, I hope the actor, who long, long ago was nominated for a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer (he lost to James Earl Jones), not only gets the part, but also wins some awards for playing it. I'm surprised that Hollywood still continues to pass over great stage actors for more well-known names when a play is turned into a film. They should have learned 40 years ago with the whole Julie Andrews-My Fair Lady thing.

Monday's odds and ends:

• According to England's The Independent, Keira Knightley is going to play Eliza Doolittle. In, well, something -- maybe on stage, maybe on screen. Basically, all anyone knows at this point is that talks are going on, and she's "studying the script madly." All remake rage will be delayed until we know for sure whether it's a movie or not.
• It looks as if all the talk about Sean Connery making a cameo appearance in Casino Royale might have been a bit of wishful thinking. According to Connery himself, apart from contributing his voice to a Scottish cartoon he agreed to participate in months ago, he's retired from acting and will officially announce his decision when the AFI gives him its lifetime achievement award later this year. Gee, that's convenient timing. "All these people here, for me? You shouldn't have. Oh, and I'm retiring. Forever. Love me very much -- and publicly -- right now!"
• The wait is finally over, friends: there will be a Joe Dirt 2. Can I get an amen? How long have we hoped and prayed that this day might come, only to be repeatedly denied by the cruel hand of Hollywood? Now, though, the blessed day has arrived. Master Thespian David Spade reports that he is asked about a sequel to Joe Dirt more than anything else (which, really, isn't saying much -- as Clint at Moviehole points out, how many people are clamoring for another Dickie Roberts?), and that it's been surprisingly successful on DVD. Though Spade doesn't specifically mention a shoot date for the time traveling (yes, I said time traveling) sequel, it sounds like it may go into production this summer -- fingers crossed.
• As Karina mentioned in the podcast this morning, a well-intentioned (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt there, he could actually be deeply evil) Massachusetts corrections officer has been disciplined for showing Brokeback Mountain to prison inmates. [Insert gratuitous Oz joke here.] According to corrections officials, their objection to the film was not its subject matter but "the graphic nature of sexually explicit scenes" -- apparently men can't even go at it with women on the screens of the Massachusetts big house.
  

For eight years now, megacritic Roger Ebert has put together a festival featuring films he loves that he feels have been overlooked and neglected. What's great about the festival is that Ebert's status is such that people pay attention to it, and the attention he bestows on films simply by choosing them can have an impact. Featured at last year's festival, for example, were Murderball and Me and You and Everyone We Know, both of which received tremendous acclaim as the year wore on.

This year's slate of films is just as diverse as those of past festivals, and includes My Fair Lady (screening in 70mm!), The David Schwimmer-starrer Duane Hopwood (Ebert describes Schwimmer's performance as "brilliant", and the film as one of the best indie features he saw last year), Man Push Cart (which impressed Kim at Sundance), and Bad Santa. All of the films at the festival will be accompanied by appearances by personnel involved in the productions, from Bad Santa director Terry Zwigoff to John Malkovich, who plans to be on hand to discuss his work in 2002's Ripley's Game.

The festival runs from April 26 to April 30 (there are three and four screenings a day), with all screenings at The Virginia Theatre. Those of you in Chicago damn well better go.

[via GreenCine Daily]

You all know about the Christmas musicals: Meet Me in St. Louis, White Christmas, etc. That's where you go if you want your holiday fix tinged with song (or, in the case of Meet Me in St. Louis, deep depression). This list is just an offering of seven wonderful (non-holiday) musicals from someone who is a complete sucker for the genre and actually likes to spend the holidays singing along with people on the TV.