Cynthia Erivo, still one O short of an EGOT, is remaking the Bette Midler rock ‘n’ excess pic The Rose. Erivo will star as the fame- and drug-addicted singer, and will produce “with Solome Williams under her newly launched production banner Edith’s Daughter,†per Variety. The original Rose was loosely based on the life and death of Janis Joplin. How Erivo will spin the story is not yet known, besides that Erivo’s take will “put a contemporary lens on the high price of fame.†So, not Jackie Jorp-Jomp, then.
The 1979 version of The Rose was Bette Midler’s first film role, and it earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Actress for Midler and Best Supporting Actor for Frederic Forrest. Forrest played Midler’s love interest, a troubled AWOL soldier. Middler tweeted her support for Erivo’s resurrection of the film, voicing an all-caps “ISN’T THIS GREAT?â€