Where My Girls At? New Roles for Jess, Charlize, and The Bening
Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 9:00PM Four new projects for three favorites, two of whom are in theaters right now in a bad movie called Winter's War.
Charlize Theron
Her Gorgeousness will star in a new comedy called Tully which is not to be confused with that new drama called Sully starring Tom Hanks. Theron will play a woman who has difficulty dealing her child's new nanny (who happens to be the title character). But here's the best part: It's reuniting the core Young Adult team with Jason Reitman behind the camera and Diablo Cody scripting and since Young Adult is all three of them in peak powers, we can be very grateful/hopeful about it. If lightning strikes twice we'll know the three of them all bring out the best in each other creatively.
In related news that's the first set picture of Charlize on Fast & Furious 8 (gee, they didn't waste any time getting another film going) in which we think she's playing the villain. They've apparently gone meta with her 'Angelina Jolie Gone in 60 Seconds' look -- Drag racing car fetish movies have to stick together!
Jessica Chastain
Jess will headline Molly's Game with Idris Elba as her co-star. Since this is Jess we're talking about there's already a cutesy photo to illustrate.
So excited to work with the lovely @idriselba #MollysGame #AaronSorkin pic.twitter.com/9HtbK1QnQ4
— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) May 7, 2016
Molly's Game is based on the memoir by skier Molly Bloom which chronicles her arrest by the FBI for a high stakes poker game. Sounds like a string of words that don't make much sense together right but apparently it was a true enough story to write a book about and get a movie deal. Famed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin will write (duh) & direct (wha?!?).
And the best news for last...
Annette Bening
After headlining 20th Century Women and a supporting role of some sort in her husband's still Untitled Howard Hughes film, The Bening will be back in a bio: She'll be playing Academy Award winning actress Gloria Grahame in a drama about the star's final days battling cancer when she was 57. The casting is totally brilliant visually. Our collective images of Grahame are all from her youthful heyday in noirs but if you imagine her growing older offscreen it's easy to imagine her looking exactly like the 57 year-old Annette Bening of right now. The project is called Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (I can't imagine they won't change the name) and Jamie Bell will play the male lead of Peter Turner who wrote the memoir it's based on and who cared for Grahame in her last days. Sherlock director Paul McGuigan is on board and the screenplay is from the writer of Control & Nowhere Boy.
In related news: Annette Bening is still aiming for that Oscar so this may well be her backup plan if she doesn't win it this year...
Reader Comments (18)
They've announced that it's Jamie Bell playing Peter Turner. Interesting.
That biopic sound like heaven...and man I wish they would keep the title and not give it a single-word title like Grahame. Film titles should be interesting!
Cody-Reitman-Theron, hurrah! I was just pondering to myself about what Cody was up to these days. Glad to see she's still churning and burning.
Never let up Annette. Chastain do your thing. Theron you have your Oscar will they bother to give you number two?
Bening should have won for "The Kids Are All Right." I hope Moore opened the door for Oscar to crown legends in their 50s, likes Pfeiffer and Bening.
@ BVR -
(1) Is Bening a Legend? No.
Actress respected by critics? Yes
There is a difference.
(2) Also, Bening would have made a bad winner that year. Her competition was too strong. I have no issue rewarding "legends" but it has to be in win-worthy performances.
Portman (at her peak) and Williams (so underrated in Blue Valentine for some reason - in my view it is her best performance to date) were both superior to Bening that year. A different league really.
Kidman has some major fans of her work in Rabbit Hole too. I haven't seen it yet so can't comment.
Bening and Lawrence both gave good performances and made worthy nominees but would have made bad winners.
Gloria Grahame had one of the most off-putting/intriguing/intoxicating screen presences. Always made any role, no matter how small, fascinating.
I am a big fan of Gloria Grahame. I can see Bening in the role. They could cast Scarlett Johansson for the flashbacks. ScarJo really looks the part!
An inspired casting choice. Gods of Cinema, I want that Bening movie to be shot, edited and released a soon as possible.
I just read that Grahame married her ex husband's son, which made her son a half sibling and a step son to her last husband. Wow this woman. That's some Kardashian level shit there. Nevertheless I am so excited for The Bening movie!!!
Whoever plays Nicholas Ray is gonna be nominated as best supporting actor
My YOUNG ADULT love is strong, so I'll be very excited for TULLY.
I've read Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (hope they keep the title since it's a direct quote of Grahame's and a key into her personal psychology). It was an interesting read and Gloria was an odd, very complex woman with what could generously be called a messy personal life.
Years after divorcing director Nicolas Ray, with whom she had a son, she married his son from a former marriage in effect becoming her own former mother-in-law, her son his brother's stepson and the children they had together both her son's siblings and their uncle as well.
All that doesn't matter of course, she was brilliant and unique on screen. I'm glad she won an Oscar it's just a shame it was for a nothing part in The Bad and the Beautiful when the next year she was simply incredible in The Big Heat.
All that doesn't matter of course
It matters because she started sleeping with him at 13, she lost her career behind it.
"Since this is Jess we're talking about there's already a cutesy photo to illustrate."
LOL it's funny cause it's true!
Excited about the Bening news but I wish the project had a great director attached to it.
James T: McGuigan hasn't had a lot of luck with his films, but his four episodes of Sherlock kind of show that McGuigan has more promise than you'd think based strictly on his film output. Interested to see what he brings to the first two episodes of Luke Cage.
I'm still bummed that Bening never played Ida Lupino—a truly striking resemblance—but this sounds quite interesting.
When she appeared in The Grifters, Bening totally gave me that Gloria Grahame nourish vibe! Can't wait for this film!