the industry

Keira Knightley Will Play Eliza Doolittle

Photo: WireImage


Knightley Feeling Fair: Columbia is prepping a remake of My Fair Lady, with mogul theater producer Cameron Mackintosh and Love Actually’s Duncan Kenworthy producing, and Keira Knightley in discussions to play Eliza Doolittle. The story will remain set in 1912, and producers plan to dig back into George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion to beef up Eliza’s “emotional journey.†You know, to give us the full emotional subtext behind her shouting, “Move yer bloomin’ arse!†[Variety]

F. Gary Gray Assays Gaye: With the music rights finally secure, F. Gary Gray will direct his passion project, a Marvin Gay biopic (shockingly titled Marvin), with C. Gaby Mitchell (Blood Diamond) attached to write the script. Gray’s film has all the good songs (“I Heard It Through the Grapevine,†“What’s Goin’ Onâ€) but no good singer, and is therefore not to be confused with Jesse L. Martin’s Sexual Healing, which has a good singer but not the good songs. [Variety]

Zetumer Controls the Spice: Josh Zetumer (one of Variety’s 10 screenwriters to watch in 2007) is in negotiations to write the Peter Berg–Kevin Misher remake of Frank Herbert’s Dune, the epic sci-fi megaclassic that has spawned two mega-not-as-good adaptations. All we can say is that his take had better not include a part for Sting. [HR]

Darko to the Max: Richard Kelly’s Darko Entertainment will produce the adaptation of Tucker Max’s I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, with Bob Gosse (Niagara, Niagara) directing. The Donnie Darko team “appreciated Tucker’s gonzo style†and felt “the story’s uniqueness appealed to [their] own sensibilities of storytelling.†Yes, we kind of see the similarities between Donnie Darko and “Tucker tries buttsex; hilarity does not ensueâ€. [Variety]

Three Meet Deadline: Brittany Murphy, Thora Birch, and Tammy Blanchard will star in Deadline, a psychological thriller about a writer who moves to an abandoned house to write a screenplay, and scariness ensues. Probably because she bought the house with a subprime mortgage! (Are subprime jokes still funny? Seriously, what’s the deal with airline food?!) [HR]