Mike Medavoy and Bobby Geisler are working with the Gershwin family, including Marc George Gershwin, a nephew of the famous brothers, to create an updated film version. Based on the 1935 original Broadway production, it became a film in 1959 starring Sidney Poitier and the beautiful Dorothy Dandridge, as well as Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. Despite the film’s star power and influence even today, Ira and George Gershwin were actually pretty disappointed with the film version, and it didn’t really do all that well critically and at the box office back then. However, the revised Broadway version that opened in 2012 was a massive hit, winning Audra McDonald (who played Bess) a Tony, and wound up being the longest-running production of the musical out of all. According to Shadow and Act, it might be the revived musical’s success that is persuading folks to make this into another movie. Either way, Marc George Gershwin is excited about what is to come, and he hopes it will be better than the version starring Poitier and Dandridge (we find that one pretty great though):“We get approached a lot with ideas that aren’t very good but Mike has a great track record. We’re confident that he’s going to able to find the right director and writer. And we already have the music.”
So now that you know that it’s in the works, are you excited? And who could you see playing Porgy and Bess? As for Bess, what about a Jennifer Hudson? Anika Noni Rose? Or how about if they just let Audra McDonald play the role that got her a Tony on the big screen? She is an amazing actress. But we will see what comes and who is cast soon enough–once a script is actually written and a director is picked. Excitement!
So now that you know that it’s in the works, are you excited? And who could you see playing Porgy and Bess? As for Bess, what about a Jennifer Hudson? Anika Noni Rose? Or how about if they just let Audra McDonald play the role that got her a Tony on the big screen? She is an amazing actress. But we will see what comes and who is cast soon enough–once a script is actually written and a director is picked. Excitement!
