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Just as West Side Story is getting rebooted for the big screen, a new film adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic 1951 musical, The King & I, is in the works. Paramount Pictures is set to produce the third big screen outing following the 1956 Academy Award-winning film and infamous 1999 cartoon adaptation.
Paramount To Turn ‘The King & I’ Into New Film; Temple Hill Producing
Thoughts?
ReplyI would love it if they hired a legit soprano. Despite the lack of high notes to fit Gertrude Lawrence’s voice, Anna’s songs really soar with a real clean-sounding singer.
Also, I bet you the remake will film “Something Wonderful” much better than the original film did. It was kind of a throwaway song in the original film, but in the Broadway revival, it stopped the show completely and became a highlight. A lot of it was how they staged it. There’s a reason why Ruthie Ann Miles won a Tony for the often ignored role of Lady Thiang.
I also want them to put back “Western People Funny” and “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?” among others that were cut. I also think the pacing could be improved from the original film which was kind of plodding and then woke up with the “Small House of Uncle Thomas” ballet.
Cutting “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?” in the original was a huge mistake. That could have been a show-stopper for Deborah Kerr and it was one of the best dubbing jobs Hollywood ever did. Kerr mixed her voice with Marni Nixon perfectly and both worked to make sure their voices sounded as similarly and naturally as possible.
The above makes me mad that they didn’t just tell Audrey Hepburn from the beginning she was going to be dubbed for My Fair Lady. Then they could have worked together like Kerr and Nixon did in the same way. Instead, they chose to trick her and make her find out later on while filming they were going to dub her AFTER they had her record all of her songs and then SHOOT her scenes to her own recordings having her think they were going to be used in the film.
ReplyCopy URLI got a “dark horse” idea for the role of Anna… Olivia Colman. Thoughts?
I don’t think she’s THAT great of a singer to be honest.
Although this film will never be able to get off the ground. They’ll need to cast actual Thai actors in the role today (and not just South East/East Asians) . Look at the controversy surrounding Raya, which concerned mere voice work for a South East Asian inspired film, so imagine the backlash for that kind of casting for a film set in a real and distinct country – there’s no way Watanabe could reprise his role for the film without accusations of portraying Asian cultures as interchangeable occurring.
So you’d need Thai actors, but considering how taboo the musical and film are in Thailand, owing to strict laws concerning the portrayal of the monarchy, none would sign up unless they were okay being potentially blacklisted in their domestic market (although I guess you could cast members of the Thai diaspora?)
ReplyCopy URLI think Carey Mulligan would be an interesting choice for anna, she has sung before on film; and at one point she was supposed to play eliza dolittle in the My Fair Lady remake that never got made.
Well, she’s already starred in a movie that prominently featured the song, “Something Wonderful”….
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