Renée Zellweger To Play Judy Garland In ‘Judy’ For Pathé, Calamity Films – AFM
Pathe and Calamity Films have set Renee Zellweger to star in Judy, playing the legendary Judy Garland in the true story of the singer and actress’ final concerts in London. A February 2018 start date has been earmarked for principal photography with British stage director and Tony nominee Rupert Goold helming.
It’s winter 1968, 30 years after she played the iconic role of Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, when showbiz legend Garland arrives in Swinging London to perform a sell-out run at The Talk of the Town. As Garland prepares for the show, battles with management, charms musicians and reminisces with friends and adoring fans, her wit and warmth shine through. Even her dreams of romance seem undimmed as she embarks on a courtship with Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.
And yet Garland is fragile. After working for 45 of her 47 years, she is exhausted; haunted by memories of a childhood lost to Hollywood and gripped by a desire to be back home with her kids.
The film is based on a script written by Tom Edge (The Crown) and will be produced by BAFTA winner David Livingstone (Pride) for Calamity.
According to producers, the film will feature some of Garland’s best known songs. Zellweger notably showed off her pipes in 2002 musical Chicago, for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. Last year, she starred in the threequel Bridget Jones’s Baby which made $212M worldwide and was a smash at the UK box office with over $60M. Her latest, drama Same Kind Of Different As Me, released in the U.S. on Friday. She is repped by CAA.
Pathé will distribute Judy in the UK, France and Switzerland and will handle sales throughout the rest of the world in what becomes a hot project for the upcoming AFM.
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