Clint Eastwood & Beyoncé. A Match Made In...
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 8:30PM This might just be the strangest thing you read all week.
Clint Eastwood, currently working on FBI biopic J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Hoover and Armie Hammer as his lover and star employee, will be chasing that unlikely project with... wait for it...
A STAR IS BORN with Beyoncé. According to Deadline it's a go and they may even start shooting the third musical version of this story before the end of the year. There are so many things one might say to this news including.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo"
or perhaps
"the earth is doomed" which is what I tweeted.
Maybe "Streisand is gonna be pissed" which is what I went with for my upcoming Towleroad column.
Stars Are Born in the 30s (Gaynor) the 50s (Garland) and 70s (Streisand)
I've never understood why anyone would want to remake A Star is Born (including Babs in the 70s), given that Judy Garland's 1954 performance is so unassailably ginormous and mythical and awesome and Oscar winning (damnit!). But mostly, I'm scratching my head about conservative manly "get off my lawn" Clint Eastwood doing two gay-appeal projects back to back. First he's training his Oscarbait eyes on a closeted cross-dresser and then he's turning klieg lights on an actual show queen?
Finally, aside from Eastwood's "what the hell will this be like?" involvement it feels rather redundant and not just because we've already had three film versions. Won't watching Beyoncé do A Star is Born be like watching a two hour extended remix of "Listen" from Dreamgirls.
That's the whole emotional arc and story right there.
A Star is Born, Beyoncé, Clint Eastwood, Oscars (12), remakes
Reader Comments (37)
Um.
I, uh...I got nothing...
Oh God.
Yeah, I'm speechless as well, but I gotta say I think that rendition of Listen is amazing.
Please God no. I know the Garland version is revered but Streisand and Kristofferson are the definitive Star Is Born for me. I feel like the industry is trying to shove Beyonce as an ACTRESS down our throats. Clint needs to stay away from movies about females...I hated The Changeling and Million Dollar Baby. Gran Torino was superb.
Just NO...and this is from someone obsessed with Beyonce. I love the girl, but this is wholly unnecessary. The Eastwood thing just baffles me.
Hate this idea, I don't want to hear her singing 'That Man That Got Away', is a NO NO NO in my book. And their choices for Norman Maine? Will Smith, P. Diddy? well I think the mayas were right, the end will be in 2012!
This news immediately put a question mark on my face. Hmmmmmmm?
I dislike that fact that it's Eastwood directing the movie instead of Beyonce being in it. I donlt think it's the industry pushing Beyonce's acting chops down our throats but just her wanting to be an actress really, really bad. good luck to her, i guess.
Weirdly, I want to watch Dreamgirls again now.
Although that distraught Beyonce shot smoking makes me wish Rosario Dawson were still using her musical talents. And that she had a role in Dreamgirls. Perhaps Beyonce's.
I'm just waiting for them to say it's going to be shot in 3-D.
Honestly............I'm a little excited to see where this goes.......*runs*
Nathaniel, i thought you would be happy!
Eastwood is one of the best directors of the last 20 years, and has dipped into several genres. Also, Beyonce's voice alone is the reason why people even made the effort to see Dreamgirls (before realising J-Hud was amazing). You always saying that Hollywood needs to make more musicals, and this is it! :)
Nic -- well, i'm always up for a musical (no way i'll miss it when it comes out) but I don't personally think Eastwood is one of the best directors of the past 20 years... and i guess i'm still unconvinced that Beyonce is an actress.
but, we'll see!
mostly i find the combo just odd.
"A Hot Mess is Born." Make no mistake. This movie will be a hot mess. Will Chloe Moretz be playing the teenage version of the Beyoncé character?
i think the movie will be made by the combo of Beyonce and whoever the male lead is.
I guess you haven't seen Beyonce's performance in Cadillac Records (2008) which proves she can act.
Watch these clips of Beyonce in Cadillac Records and tell me she can't act:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yQoCo0xlRg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEKgpOHazcM
Beyonce? Hell yeah!!! Always! Underrated!
A Star is Born? Why not! Never saw the others!
Clint Eastwood? Confusion. My mouth is dry due to the prolonged jaw-droppage.
creepy indeed...but I don't know why everybody HATES La Streisand version, it's one of my favorite. That last medley at the end gives me chill everytime (which must be about a 1000!)
I've always defended those veteran directors that keep on working and making one movie a year, but I begin to wonder what's Eastwood motivation to accept a project (if any). Allen, at least has a recurrent set of characters and themes and one may think he feels compelled to improve some ideas used before. But honestly, Eastwood sometimes seems to have no clear criteria and it seems he only wants to keep himself busy just for the sake of it. He could join a popular franchise any day, (Pirates 5?).
No idea about Beyoncé as an actress, never saw Dreamgirls, but why not her sister (Solange?). That could make the plot have some "real" parallel in life. (= the making of a new movie star).
I'm sorry if I sound a little rude, but people really should learn how to see beyond their bias. It's absolutely absurd to say Clint is conservative. He has made biopics of great humanitarians, like Mandela, showed strong opinions on euthanasia (MDB), capital punishment (True Crime), racism, violence and tolerance in a lot of movies, and you still can't go beyond his part in Gran Torino, a part that, of course is at all about being conservative, but about learning to respect and even love the differences. Wake up. He has even already showed gay characters in sympathetic ways in Midnight in the Garden... You may not like kis movies, but try not to write about him with unjustified prejudice, ok?
Cal -- you are always so sensitive when it comes to Clint .I didn't say "CONSERVATIVES ARE EVIL" though it is true that Clint doesn't see himself as a conservative but a liberatarian. At any rate, i never claimed he had anything against the gays or anything like that. I just think it's interesting/surprising that his machismo persona (don't claim it's anything but ... Gran Torino is hardly the only example. and he had that persona BEFORE gran torino. the 'get off my lawn' is just a silly catchphrase) is doing two movies in a row that people wouldn't be surprised to see Rob Marshall take on, you know?
Walter - GULP. how can BEYONCE possibly underrated. She is inescapable and regularly worshipped for the past decade.
Clint looks like Barbara Bush. Creepy.
Sorry ;)
Sorry for being a fanboy, I mean. point taken.
cal roth (i know from fanboyism *coughPFEIFFER/BENING/HATHAWAY/etc/cough*) so i get it ;)
Luisergo -- just an FYI they change the music every time for A STAR IS BORN to suit the diva at the center so i doubt Beyonce will be doing any Judy or Babs songs. At least I hope not.
Sometimes it's not nice to be a hardcore fan. You always get over the top for this little things.
When I read this I literally thought for a second "I hate when they pull these april fools joke headlines, moving on"...and then remembered its January. While this is COMPLETELY out of left field, I have to say I'm immensely intrigued. I think if Beyonce has the right director she could really pull off something special. She is such a charismatic performer and she was actually very solid in 'Cadillac Records'. While this is a really odd combo, I think people need to realize how weirdly amazing it could be. Who knows!
This so so bat-shit crazy that it might be awesome. I say let's wait and see how it turns out.
Regardless of so many silly moments, the Streisand version has to contain cinema's GREATEST SINGLE SHOT.
At the end of the movie she begins a song, quietly at first, she goes through a lifetime of emotions, ends up triumphant and exhaultant ALL IN THE ONE SHOT OF HER FACE. THE WHOLE SONG. ONE CLOSE-UP. Awsomely brave of the filmmakers.
Worth sitting through the rest of it to get to that.
(In the opening scenes, she is impressed with Kristofferson's limo but he is not impressed with her house?? Huh? Take another look at the house...er, Mansion. On Knob Hill. Fourteen mil? Twenty? And his car is...?)
And, aren't remakes just that tiny bit, um, predictable?
jh
I'm not sure how I feel about this news. I loved the Janet Gaynor/ Fredric March version. I think the Judy Garland/James Mason version is a masterpiece. I find the Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson version unwatchable. I think that the actor they cast in the "Norman Maine" role will be crucial. Will Smith and P. Diddy are too young for the role. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
Beyonce showed genuine chops as an actress with her supporting work in Cadillac Records. She’ll work with an acting coach (just as Halle Berry did for Monster’s Ball “Ivana Chubbuck” and Nicole Kidman continues to do for all of her projects since working with “Susan Batson” on Eyes Wide Shut). She received strong critical reviews – plus a glowing endorsement from America’s favorite Christmas ham Meryl Streep.
I don't like the wimp syndrome. No matter how ardent a feminist may be, if she is a heterosexual female, she wants the strength of a male companion as well as the sensitivity. The most gentle people in the world are macho males, people who are confident in their masculinity and have a feeling of well-being in themselves. They don't have to kick in doors, mistreat women, or make fun of gays. -- Clint Eastwood IMDB
I've never seen any of these earlier "A Star is Born" films, so this news doesn't hit me as hard as the people going "SACRILEGE!" at Beyonce and Clint (huh?) co-opting a beloved institution. But at this point (the fourth version?), no one camp can really claim ownership to the story, can they. It's one of those univeral stories that's going to be "re-imagined," "re-booted," "modernized," or whatever new-speak word Hollywood wants to use to dress up the word "remake" generation after generation. I'm personally excited for Beyonce. If she can pull this off, then maybe she'll finally be taken seriously as an actress. Think what you will about her personally or her music, but I see a hard worker that puts in 110% to everything that she does, and this will be no different. That's something that people should admire. "Obsessed" was tragic, but "Cadillac Records" and "Dreamgirls" were no embarassments for her acting or singing wise. Now Clint being involved is a bit puzzling. I know that he loves his musical films ("Bird") and doing scores for so many of his films. But this story seems so . . . beneath him or not in his wheelhouse. He's the one directors that should be doing more war films or re-making "True Grit" instead of the Coens. His "female"-driven films can leave a lot to be desired. But I'll be there opening night regardless though. How can I not be? They better find someone good for her co-star. And note to all casting directors: there are more black male actors out there opposite Beyonce than Denzel, Will Smith, and Diddy (ugh). Hell, cast a white guy and add the interracial component. I'm oddly looking forward to hearing more about this project.
Makes me think of Mulholland Drive. Beyonce is Camilla Rhodes to Eastwood's Adam Kesher. Damn Jay-Z! LOL.
We'll see. It could possibly surprise us in a good way. N I don't understand why some of these people are criticizing eastwood with his films about women when both Bridges of Madison County,n Changeling provided two great female roles delieved by two actresses that garnered Oscar nominations for them respectively. N Million Dollar Baby got Swank her 2nd Oscar to the dismay of a lot of people