Latifah Plays Queen of the Court
Gay fave and Bringing Down the House babe Queen Latifah has become one of Tinseltown’s hottest leading ladies. The big, beautiful Chicago star is now attached to the new Disney project Just Wright, set in the world of pro basketball. Latifah will play a physical therapist hired by an all-star hooper to move in and help him recover from an injury that could threaten his career. This being Hollywood, it shouldn’t come as a shock that romance begins to blossom between the therapist and her NBA star patient. Writer Michael Elliot, whose credits include Like Mike and Brown Sugar, is working on the screenplay.
Wherefore Art Thou, Gnomeo?
The world of magical English garden gnomes is coming to the big screen, thanks to Disney and Sir Elton John’s production company, Rocket Pictures. Oscar winners Kate Winslet and Judi Dench have signed on to voice Disney’s new full-length animated feature, tentatively titled Gnomeo and Juliet, in which Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers will be retold from the point of view of those charming diminutive creatures. Speaking of charming diminutive creatures, John himself is writing the score in collaboration with another Sir, songwriter Tim Rice. Winslet will play the mini-Juliet, with Dench as her nurse. No ‘Gnomeo’ has been brought on board yet, but this Romeo would like to suggest the dreamy-voiced Ewan McGregor as a candidate.
Let’s Hear It for Footloose
White-hot Chicago producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are taking on another film with music. But this time instead of working with flapper dresses, they’re going for parachute pants. The out producers are remaking 1984’s teen dance hit, Footloose, with help from original screenwriter-lyricist Dean Pitchford. The update will include songs from the original film, including Denise Williams’ ‘Let’s Hear It for the Boy,’ but Pitchford will also be writing four new tunes for the remake. Zadan, one of the original Footloose producers, has said the tone will be more Moulin Rouge than Chicago, featuring updated arrangements and a young (and presumably multicultural) cast. The film will not be based on the Broadway musical adaptation from a few years back, however. There’s still no word if spiky-haired cutie Kevin Bacon will make a cameo appearance.
The Face of AIDS
Documentary filmmaker (and Robert F. Kennedy’s daughter) Rory Kennedy, who has previously explored the life of an Appalachian family and a woman on death row, is going international with her new series, Pandemic: Facing AIDS. In a five-part series that debuts on HBO in June, Kennedy looks at people living with AIDS around the globe. Although the half-hour segments shot in India, Russia, Uganda, and Thailand deal mostly with straight PWAs, the Brazil episode, which premieres June 28, explores the life of a 27-year-old gay man who is surviving thanks to complicated drug therapies. (Brazil is one of the few countries that provides cheap generic drugs to citizens with AIDS.) Gay superstar Sir Elton John narrates, while The Hours composer Philip Glass contributes the score.