Zadan and Meron Raising Raisin
Gay producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Hairspray, Chicago) must never sleep, since there always seems to be news about another project from the prolific duo. Their latest announcement concerns a TV version of the recent hit Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun, a groundbreaking piece of African-American theater from black lesbian playwright Lorraine Hansberry. The small-screen version will retain much of the stage show’s acclaimed cast, including Tony winner Phylicia Rashad, Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs, and Tony nominee Sanaa Lathan (Nip/Tuck, Something New), who will be joined by John Stamos and Sean Patrick Thomas (Barbershop). This new Raisin—a feature film version was produced in 1961, with Sidney Poitier in the lead—will see the light of day on ABC in 2008.
Jennifer Garner to Be With Jinks and Cohen
August and September will see the launch of two projects for gay Oscar-winning producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (American Beauty): The Nines on the big screen, and the much-buzzed-about series Pushing Daisies on ABC. Also on the horizon for super-producing pair is Be With You, a remake of a Japanese horror film that will star Alias veteran Jennifer Garner as a woman who may be the reincarnation of a deceased wife and mother who told her family that she would one day return to them. With a script by Allan Loeb—who’s got writing credits on seven upcoming films, including this fall’s Things We Lost in the Fire—this chiller sounds like something audiences will want to Be With when it opens in 2009.
Queer as Folk Stars Reunite for Ping Pong
They played lovers on Queer as Folk, but now Peter Paige and Scott Lowell will be partners of the table-tennis variety for Ping Pong Playa, a new comedy from Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu (In the Realms of the Unreal). The film stars Jimmy Tsai as a would-be basketball player who is forced to defend his family’s athletic dynasty. For a director who often takes on very serious subjects, Yu is a very funny lady (she delivered the immortal ‘My dress cost more than my film’ line at the Oscars.). So with a cast that also includes gay comic Jason Stuart and Khary Payton (who played the witty gay pal on the Emily’s Reasons Why Not), count on Playa to serve the laughs when it’s unveiled later this year.
Roberts and Renner are Snappers
Neil Patrick Harris is getting lots of ink over the fact that audiences can accept him playing a straight guy on TV even though they know he’s gay. But The L Word’s Dallas Roberts was way ahead of Harris, being open about his sexuality before he appeared as a straight musician on the Showtime hit. Roberts is now teaming with Jeremy Renner—who got raves for playing a gay non-role-model in Dahmer—for the indie comedy Snappers. The two men will star as a pair of small-timers (a would-be inventor and his overbearing salesman pal) who suddenly find themselves on top of the world with an invention that everybody wants. Look for the comedy from director Jeff Balsmeyer (Danny Deckchair) to surface at festivals before the end of the year.
Romeo San Vicente’s life is exactly like The L Word—minus the falling-in-love-with-women part. He can be reached care at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.