Colin Firth Wanted For Appropriately British Role In ‘My Fair Lady’ Remake

Dave Horwitz — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:34:18 +0000

The idea machine that is Hollywood has cooked up a real corker of a concept: British diction specialist Colin Firth should star in a remake of My Fair Lady. Miracle of miracles, whoever dreamed that up should get a Bentley. Firth has been pursued for the role of Henry Higgins in the Emma Thompson scripted remake of the Lerner and Loewe musical before, along with a million other batted around names. The studio wanted Hugh Grant, while original director Danny Boyle wanted Daniel Day-Lewis for the role so much that he even dropped out of the project when he couldn’t land him. Carey Mulligan is attached as Eliza Doolittle, a role that at one point was linked to Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and many others. Current director John Madden still wants Firth, and although the actor is next committed to the Coen Brothers scripted Gambit, he’s the top choice for the film.

The film has been delayed for a slew of reasons, from Mulligan’s shooting schedule, to the rights of the source material being tied up in various places. It seems that CBS owns some of it, as do the estates of Lerner and Loewe and also George Bernard Shaw. Regardless, these are not insurmountable issues, and all parties are reasonably confident that they can get the film in theaters by 2013. Colin Firth will just have to take a yea break from winning every award in history. Maybe he can take a vacation or something. A very proper and British vacation. (The Playlist)

Screen Junkies » My Fair Lady

Colin Firth Wanted For Appropriately British Role In ‘My Fair Lady’ Remake