Keira Knightley Is Still A ‘Fair Lady! Joe Wright Now Attached To Direct
I know what many people will comment on when I write this but Audrey Hepburn is one of the most beautiful and graceful actresses I have ever had the pleasure of watching in films, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of my favorite films of all time. Another one of her classics is the film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe’s musical, My Fair Lady.
The remake was announced back in 2008 with Kiera Knightley attached along with her Love Actually producer Duncan Kenworthy. Now Knightley’s Pride and Prejudice director Joe Wright is attached and she is back attached to the project once having her name removed for Scarlett Johanson.
Daily Telegraph reports Knightley will star in the remake in which Johansson was up for the lead role the site reported that Wright has come on to direct and it seems that Wright has gone with Knightley, who he directed in Pride & Prejudice, to star.
While it’s being called a remake, the film will use the tuner’s score and retain its 1912 setting. Where possible, Kenworthy and Mackintosh intend to shoot the film on location in the original London settings of Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Tottenham Court Road, Wimpole Street and the Ascot racecourse. (The 1964 Warner Bros. film was lensed entirely on Hollywood soundstages.)
The filmmakers plan to adapt Alan Jay Lerner’s book more fully for the screen by drawing additional material from George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion,” which served as the source material for the musical. The goal is to dramatize the emotional highs and lows of Doolittle as she undergoes the ultimate metamorphosis under the tutelage of Professor Henry Higgins.
Daniel Day Lewis is also attached to the project but we are not sure of his continued involvement. At one point Oscar Award Winner Danny Boyle was pegged to direct the remake but that has since been bunked.
I am all about some remakes and I think this is a great story that could use a little upgrade with new filmmaking techniques and the quality of audio and visual mechanics of making movies that could seriously benefit a story and musical production like this.
The story revolves around the snob Henry Higgins (Lewis - rumored), professor of phonetics, accepts a bet to transform the uncultivated florist Eliza Doolittle into a worthy lady of the high society. He wins the bet but discovers love in the process. The story is based on Pygmalion which has been a foundation for films like ‘Fair Lady and even modern day re-tellings like Pretty Woman.
