First Look: Quvenzhané Wallis as Lil' Orphan "Annie"
Friday, September 20, 2013 at 8:00PM Classic musical moppet "Annie" may no longer be a brilliant orange redhead but the new film version was savvy enough to still give her a memorable mop o' hair. Here's our first peek at Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis as the singing orphan.
This photo also reveals that the musical is no longer a Depression era fable, but set in the here and now. But it's obviously still not going for realism. Quvenzhané, who turned 10 last month, was biking around Harlem like so in character and CitiBike is not offered up here in Harlem much to the frustration of residents like Harlem Gal Inc and me... I was totally going to sign up but CitiBike currently ends at 59th street. Damn them!
Annie (2014), opening Christmas day next year, will be our first chance to see the Oscar nominee act since she was a five year old since Beasts of the Southern Wild was filmed years before it was released. Yes, she's in 12 Years A Slave but you won't even realize -- mere seconds of screentime!
Reader Comments (16)
How does Annie have the $10 per 1/2 hour it requires to rent a CitiBike? "Hard-knock life" my tush.
Evan --citibike is actually cheap if you buy an annual membership. Plus she does have Daddy Warbucks as sponsor, a man of the 1%
Nat: It won't be that bad if they extend the service to that area by the release date of the movie. Just saying.
The fun thing about Annie is that very little of it is vocally challenging so the casting possibilities are endless. I'm so excited for Rose Byrne as Grace. Her scenes in this movie will be the most satisfying film work she's had in god knows how long, including Bridesmaids. Seriously smashing casting, she is so refined and empathetic onscreen.
I actually thought Audra McDonald was too warm and regal for the part in the Kathy Bates version. Rose Byrne has such a delicious icy sophisticate streak.
This still feels like a strange dream I have yet to wake up from.
zacary - well said!
Why is no one nicknaming her "Q-T"? Anyway, if she goes the right way, she could be the next Natalie Wood.
I mean I assumed this is what they would be doing. I figured with the Jay-Z connection that it was going to be a lot more like his song "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" than like the original score. Could still be a total disaster, but I feel like doing Annie by way of The Wiz is probably better than just doing Annie by way of Annie. Nothing against Annie, but if Bernadette Peters and Carol Burnett can't pull it off, no one can.
Finney, Burnett and Reinking shine brightly, but the rest of the 82 version was a dark miscalculation. The original Broadway score is brilliant. I hope the update doesn't subvert this melodic force. Lynch should be playing Hannigan.
Me34 -- i think because Quentin Tarantino already goes by that?
Personally if I'm going to watch any version of Annie (since now I'll have three to choose from, but still zero film versions of Stephen Sondheim's FOLLIES to choose from) it will always be the 82. Maybe its just because I grew up on it, or the fact that I adore the cast, but I love it. For me nothing beats watching the number "Easy Street" with Carol Burnett, Tim Curry and Bernadette Peters. Oh and watching Ann Reinking dance her ass off.
The 1999 Rob Marshall-tv movie version is the closest anyone has gotten to capturing the original Broadway magic AND managed to cut some of the fat from the show to boot. Excellent casting in that, even the orphan ensemble. The 1982 film version made some hilariously awful ass-backward choices and it didn't help they made the title character an insufferable lil thing but yeah, some of the adult casting was fun, esp Burnett, Curry and Peters.
Hopefully this one is fun and lively and doesn't climax in a helicopter showdown.
i hope she fell off that bike! Her performance in "beasts..." is one of the most overrated performances in cinema history. When she did the fist pumping at the Oscars i wanted reach through the television screen and strangle the little brat...
Annie get a gun and blow your head clean off!
Mark The First- I must say I do love the structure of the Rob Marshall version from a theatre purest stand point. Kathy Bates really digs into Miss Hannigan and Audra Macdonald is a Goddess. And yeah I do believe the weakest part of the original Annie film is the climax and I really can't argue with how annoying Aileen Quinn is. I guess it's bad to be watching Annie for the adult performances. Haha.
Killing a classic!!!! Bad choice to remake such a wonderful classic film.....Should have just left this one alone!!!