beyonce Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Forget getting updated to a new resolution, A Star is Born is getting reborn ... again. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Warner Bros. is getting serious about a remake of the 1954 classic. The project has been cooking for a while, and they've hired Will Fetters to pen a draft and get things moving. Fetters is pretty new to the industry, having only two projects to his name. He just penned the Robert Pattinson romantic drama Remember Me, and is busy with the upcoming Nicholas Sparks adaptation, The Lucky One.

Just like the last remake in 1976, which starred Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, this take will focus on the record industry, and follow "a showbiz ingenue who falls for an established male star, only to see their careers move in opposite directions." There's no cast set right now, but rumor has it that Beyonce's name is being considered. THR says that studio observers think the timing is spot-on now, what with all of the obsession with celebrity these days.

Rewatching Babs belt out "Evergreen" while holding hands with Kris (you can watch it after the jump), I'm betting that we'll see Beyonce and Justin Timberlake in the new version. Sure, it hasn't been cast yet, but do you think Hollywood would go for anyone else? Timberlake's got the voice, the fanbase, and the ability to play a teen pop has-been. Then again, I doubt their chemistry would be the same without the leotards.

While the Internet was frantically reporting that Megan Fox was at the head of the line to play the Amazon superheroine, Beyonce was quietly meeting with representatives from Warner Bros and DC trying to nab the role for herself.

Hero Complex sat down with the megastar, who gushed about the recent superhero trend, noting that "they're not corny at all," and how badly she would like to be a part of them. "I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman? It would be great. And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It's time for that, right?"

Her one misgiving is the costume which, despite her fantastic figure, she admits is incredibly unforgiving. "I would definitely have to keep it right for that costume. The way that Lynda Carter wore it, she was so fine. She was amazing. I saw her costume at the Met. Her waist was unbelievable. It was pretty crazy, actually, her proportions. But I love Wonder Woman and it'd be a dream come true to be that character. It sure would be handy to have that lasso. To make everybody tell the truth? I need that. It would come in very handy."

Girlfriends and wives usually get the short shrift in music biopics. In most cases, they end up as background (with maybe the exception being Walk the Line). Hopefully, this will not be the case for Gabrielle Union's latest role. BlackFilm reports that Union has signed to star in Darnell Martin's music biopic Cadillac Records as Geneva Wade. Wade was blues legend Muddy Waters' long-time girlfriend and was the inspiration for the classic song, Little Geneva.

Cadillac is the story of Chess Records, founded by Leonard Chess. The famed label was responsible for launching the careers of some of the greatest names in R&B. Casting has been the order of the day since news first hit that Adrien Brody would be playing Chess. Since then, it's been a flood of news, with the debate over Beyonce being cast as jazz legend Etta James at the top of the list. It should probably not come as a shock that other casting news has garnered fewer headlines. So just to bring you up to speed: Jeffrey Wright signed to play the great Muddy Waters, Cedric the Entertainer will appear as Willie Dixon, Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf, and Columbus Short as Little Walter. There is also my favorite piece of casting -- Mos Def as Chuck Berry. Because, frankly, Def is just 'eccentric' enough to pull it off.

With the spring start date moving ever-closer, we're continuing to get reports of who will play all the famous, epic music legends in the upcoming film, Cadillac Records. Just last week, I told you about the wonderful additions of Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, and Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters. Now it seems that we've got some estrogen to add to the mix. While talking with Cedric the Entertainer (who is also attached), BlackFilm.com found out that Beyonce has been cast as Etta James.

James had found some success with Johnny Otis and Little Richard before finding her way to Chess in 1960 -- a move that put her name on the map. After starting with blues, Chess saw a future for her in the pop world, which led her to her first pop-oriented hit, "At Last." (You know the one.. Listen to it here.) From there, she dipped into musical worlds from blues to rock. (Well, "rock" as it was years ago.) Now, she's one of the big names from her era, so the question is: Is Beyonce the right woman for the job? She's a solid singer, but from all I've heard, their voices are quite different, as are their looks. I just can't see a surprising Val Kilmer/Jim Morrison sort of morph happening -- both physically and aurally. Maybe Cedric is wrong. We'll have to wait and see, but in the meantime: What do you think?

[via Empire]

Would you ever believe that Eva Longoria dated Jason Biggs? Well, Hollywood is asking us to suspend our disbelief, because the two are starring in a comedy in which they play former flames. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sexy "desperate housewife" and the doofy "pie f**cker" have been cast alongside Rob Corddry in Lower Learning, the debut feature from writer-director Mark Lafferty, who was responsible for the gay-centric Sixth Sense spoof, The Seventh Sense ("I see gay people"). In Lower, Corddry will play a shady elementary school principal under investigation by Longoria's inspector with help from her ex, a former cop who is now a vice principal. The cast will also include Corddry's old Daily Show co-worker Ed Helms, Tenacious D's Kyle Gass and Saw's Monica Potter. I don't know about you, but I expect this to be another movie in which the adults are less mature than the children.

I hope there aren't too many disappointed men out there, but Jason Biggs isn't much of a substitute for Beyoncé Knowles. Remember last year, Longoria was said to be doing a lesbian film with Knowles, but the rumor was quickly and unfortunately shot down. Well, let's just hope Longoria's character doesn't end up getting back together with Biggs' character, so we don't have to suffer through their reunion kiss -- though I've already suffered from imagining it. I'm rather hoping this movie focuses more on Corddry, who is a lot more enjoyable to watch. However, I might be in a minority here, considering audiences weren't too receptive to his recent sitcom The Winner, nor were they interested in his starring role in Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story nor as support in The Heartbreak Kid. Personally, I think he needs another shot at carrying a movie -- his next few roles are fairly small, playing second fiddle to Justin Long, Will Ferrell, Harold & Kumar and Ashton Kutcher. Like Longoria, he could definitely do better.

I first saw Anika Noni Rose on Broadway in her Tony Award-winning role in Caroline, or Change. She was great, but nearly got blown off the stage (just about anyone would have) by the incredible Tonya Pinkins. Then she had a similar situation in Dreamgirls, barely getting a mention in most reviews. She had the least flashy role by far, but I thought she held her own against the bombastic Jennifer Hudson and the ridiculously good-looking Beyonce. And now she's joining another powerful singer -- Jill Scott -- for Anthony Minghella's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Scott hasn't done much film acting, but has a part in the controversial Dakota Fanning film Hounddog, and a supporting role in Tyler Perry's upcoming Why Did I Get Married? No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency will be an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel of the same name. Any fans out there?

Rose will play Grace Makutsi, "the secretary/assistant detective to Precious Ramotswe (Scott), who owns a Botswana-based detective agency run by women." Relative newcomer Lucian Msamati will play Ramotswe's fiancé in the film. Minghella wrote the script with Richard Curtis (Love, Actually), and with Minghella at the helm, I think it is safe to assume that Detective Agency will be...long. Like, punishingly long. This also seems like quite a departure for Minghella, who usually takes on films about exceedingly pale people doing exceedingly cold things as slowly as possible. There's a whole series of Agency books, and it is "likely that a TV series based on Agency will follow the movie, but no deals are in place." Oh, and if you want to see Rose in something that will haunt her resume for decades -- check out From Justin to Kelly. Why that movie hasn't become this generation's Plan 9 From Outer Space is a mystery to me.

According to L.A. Weekly blogger Nikki Finke, there will be three presenters of the Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing. Those presenters? None other than Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Finke doesn't go on to make assumptions, but I'll go ahead and speculate that the planners of the telecast know something about who will win this award -- or they're making a hopeful gamble. Of course it will be great television to feature three of the most important "New Hollywood" directors hand a long overdue award to a fourth member of that era, Martin Scorsese. Personally, though, I think if Scorsese is a definite lock for the award, then Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Barry Levinson and Roman Polanski should be the ones presenting it.

Finke has learned of a few other "surprises" we can look forward to on Sunday night, including an appearance by Tom Cruise to present his old boss at Paramount, Sherry Lansing, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Also, the supporting acting awards will not be announced at the beginning of the ceremony, as they usually are, and none of the scheduled performers from Dreamgirls (Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose) will sing the song they sing in the movie -- who will perform what is not revealed, however. As for montages, we can expect one directed by Michael Mann about the portrayal of America in movies and one directed by Nancy Meyers about the portrayal of writers.

It is being rumored that this year's Oscar telecast will be extremely long, so hopefully the Academy and the planners have some other surprises that are more exciting than these. Of course, many of us will be glued to the set the whole way through to find out which picture will be revealed as the best, but I think the media is overestimating the public curiosity this year and I doubt that many people will really care enough to be up that late.

Since its beginnings on Broadway in 1981, Dreamgirls has been widely known to be loosely based on the story of The Supremes. Of course, it isn't actually about The Supremes, as should be obvious from the names of the characters and the difference in events between those characters and any real people who may have inspired them. Unfortunately, some people don't think the differences are clear enough, or at least that the connections between the musical and the real world are too confusing for audiences. Therefore, Dreamworks has had to place an ad in The Hollywood Reporter apologizing for this confusion and clarifying that the movie is a work of fiction.

The ad especially points out that the character played by Jamie Foxx is not meant to be a representation of Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. Earlier this month Smokey Robinson, who wrote many songs for The Supremes, slammed the movie for being a blatant, intended portrayal of The Supremes and Motown, saying that none of the characters are disguised enough as fictional, unconnected people. Though Foxx has defended his performance as not being based on Gordy, both Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson have publicly mentioned some channeling of Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, respectively.

I don't want to talk about Britney Spears this week. Personally, I've read more than enough news about her, and she barely qualifies as a film-related personality, anyway. I don't want to deal with Anna Nicole Smith either, at least until her daughter's paternity test comes back ... and even then, I'm on overload. And Rosie O'Donnell? I'm trying to ignore that whole thing with Donald Trump, which doesn't even make sense.

Unfortunately, it's a slow gossip week without the above-named celebrities. I realized at some point that if I am reporting items on Mary-Kate Olsen's boots and Charlton Heston's neighbors, it is definitely not a red-letter gossip week. I couldn't even find any George Clooney or Johnny Depp photo opportunities. However, at least I know I'll entertain the Jessica Alba fans with the last news item on the following list.