Well, this is odd news. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Nick Cassavetes (who proves that talent doesn’t necessarily fall down the family tree) is in early talks to direct an “updated version” of the already thrice made “A Star Is Born.”
The familiar story about wide-eyed girl dreaming of stardom who finds a helping hand from a washed out, alcoholic older leading man was first made as a drama by William Wellman in 1937 but truly became legendary when it became a musical in 1954 starring Judy Garland and directed by George Cukor. In 1976, Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson tried to repeat that success but were met with dismal results.
There are a couple of interesting things to note in this story. Firstly, the project is currently set up at Warner Brothers and you might remember that back in September, Cassavetes sued subsidiary, New Line, for kicking him out of the director’s chair of “Elephant Orphanage.” We guess WB and New Line don’t talk to each other, or the case is now water under the bridge.
Secondly, this is still being eyed as a razzle dazzle, A-list starring musical. Names like Beyonce, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Jon Hamm and Robert Downey Jr. are being eyed for the potential leading roles. Have WB not looked across the lot at the financial disaster is “Nine”? They must really like the script by Will Fetters (whose only credit right now is on the forthcoming Robert Pattinson drama “Remember Me”….yeesh) to be keeping this project in development.
We’re a little surprised that another studio is giving the star-studded musical another shot, especially since audiences showed indifference to “Nine.” While it’s based on proven material (albeit, material that fans of Rihanna won’t be familiar with in the least) the Weinsteins probably thought the same thing they decided to greenlight the stage version of “Nine” into a film.