Let me state quite plainly from the outset- I hate
Annie. In the late 1980s/early 90s, when VCRs were the home entertainment medium of the day, and my school summer holidays seemed an eternity, they were made to seem infinitely longer by this eternally optimistic infant with a ginger Afro. My younger sister- whose addiction to musicals should have been a red flag- would watch this film three times a day, and would scream and ball until I received a row should I attempt to switch it off. So I hope you forgive me if I lack enthusiasm for the news that the 21st centurys queen of over the top musical comedy,
Ryan Murphy, is
Sony's top choice to re-imagine Annie with
Willow Smith in the lead role. Murphy, responsible for such shows as Nip Tuck, Popular and, of course, cheesy uber-camp high-school musical Glee, is being courted for the project by actor Will Smith. Smith, who spent the early part of the 21st century becoming one of the highest paid actors in the world, has spent recent years buying up the rights top films of our youths in order to give his children something to do in between their own school holidays. Few announcements can have been more dispiriting to those whose youth it helped define than the release of Smiths Karate Kid which featured his own son- but no karate. Nothing is sacred however, or so it seems, and while there is no official announcement regarding Willow Smith, once again our collective childhood memories- even the bad ones- are to be dashed on the rocks of commerce and nepotism. The project will be overseen by Sony Pictures, and if Glee and the self-pitying, middle-class travesty that was Murphys Eat, Pray, Love is anything to go by, Smith has found the perfect director for a contemporaneous rendering of the smiling face of urban poverty that is Annie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLIsgxV7-xw