Editorial Staff
The first big-name project to be packaged in time for AFM has been announced.
Renee Zellweger, an actress once secured to play Janis Joplin (in a project that never eventuates), is set to dust off those pipes for a Judy Garland biopic. “Judy”, from Calamity Films, is set for a 2018 shoot under the direction of Rupert Goold.
Deadline says :
It’s winter 1968, 30 years after she played the iconic role of Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, when showbiz legend Garland arrives in Swinging London to perform a sell-out run at The Talk of the Town. As Garland prepares for the show, battles with management, charms musicians and reminisces with friends and adoring fans, her wit and warmth shine through. Even her dreams of romance seem undimmed as she embarks on a courtship with Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.
And yet Garland is fragile. After working for 45 of her 47 years, she is exhausted; haunted by memories of a childhood lost to Hollywood and gripped by a desire to be back home with her kids.
The film, which will feature Zellweger’s own voice (did it make anyone else think of dying cats when we heard it in “Chicago”?), will be distributed in the UK, France and Switzerland by Pathe, who are handling sales for the rest of the world at AFM.
