The sun’ll come out tomorrow, right? It’s been interesting to watch Will Gluck’s career progress. After years in TV, the writer/director/producer jumped into feature films, making his name on irreverent comedies often in the teen genre, including “Fired Up,” “Easy A” and “Friends With Benefits.” The success of those films have led to the development of a dozen big projects too, including “Stealing The Moon” with “The Social Network” and “Moneyball” producers Scott Rudin, Dan Brunetti and Mike DeLuca. But for his next trick, Gluck flipped the script and instead tried his hand at a big-budget, family-friendly musical remake of “Annie.”
Starring Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhané Wallis, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, David Zayas, and Cameron Diaz, “Annie” is a modern retelling of the Broadway classic, executive produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z among others. Here’s the official synopsis:
A Broadway classic that has delighted audiences for generations comes to the big screen with a new, contemporary vision in Columbia Pictures’ comedy Annie. Director/Producer/Screenwriter Will Gluck teams with producers James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith, Caleeb Pinkett, and Shawn “JAY Z” Carter, Laurence “Jay” Brown, and Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith with a modern telling that captures the magic of the classic characters and original show that won seven Tony Awards. Academy Award® nominee Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who’s also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they’d be back for her someday, it’s been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything’s about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) – advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne) and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) – makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he’s her guardian angel, but Annie’s self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it’s the other way around.
Will mainstream audiences take to the picture? Sony Pictures is hoping so and will release the film around the holidays on December 19th. It could just be the movie families flock to around Christmas. Meanwhile, the final trailer for the film has been released and you can watch it below.
