Let me put this in context for anyone who probably doesnt understand the excitement! Imagine if Adam West, Michael Keaton and Christian Bale all signed up to do an off-beat flick about comic book writers and maybe youll have an inclination of the kind of excitement mustered by the casting of
Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock and
Oprah Winfrey in a as yet untitled and un-scripted Universal comedy about a home shopping network.
Deadline reported on Friday that writer/director
Michael Patrick King (who was responsible for both Sex and the City films) pitched the idea 'where characters make their way through the maze of mania that surrounds marketing, marriages and the media' to the three actresses and got their seal of approval. King telling the tale;
"I put it in front of each of them and they all said yes. To have access to these women, tell them this story and hear yes was almost like a Greek mythological journey, with me going from one goddess to the next. It was humbling. They're all unique, and the idea of writing parts that three strong women will play is such a challenge. Their body of work is beyond reproach. It's also appealing to craft a character for Oprah to come back and play that's not Oprah."
Winfrey, of course, has become far more well known for her talk show, but itll be great to see her return to the big screen and even more exciting if this venture into comedy is as successful as her brilliant cameo in 30 Rock. The whole project, if it gets the tone right, could be a wonderfully barbed and bitchy romp that I at least hope does for QVC what
Broadcast News did for TV journalism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC70vdm4Al0 Of course Streep and Bullock are no strangers to comedy, with Streeps performance in
The Devil Wears Prada earning her an Oscar nomination, and Bullocks recent turn in
The Proposal overlooking her win her
'All About Steve's' Razzie (she also got an Oscar for The Blind Side). Personally, Streep is at her best when courting off-beat and humourous subject matter (see also;
Adaptation and
Death Becomes Her) so hopefully King will take some comedic risks with his subject matter, much like he did in the early days of Sex and the City before Burger left and it all got rubbish and then the film was just plain awful...
King expects to have script completed by January in the hope to shoot next year but keeping all three actresses' attached with their busy schedules might be tough. Ahem... anyway... any more superhero news today?