PORGY & BESS Movie Remake in the works, Dee Rees to direct

Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman

jimmycurry01 said: "Jordan Catalano said: "This is why we need to bring dubbing back to musicals so that we can open this up to any number of actors and actresses who can get big box office numbers."

I understand where you are coming from, but I would rather watch Pierce Brosnan struggle through a song than watch someone fake it to someone else's voice. It has always bothered me knowing that damn near the entire cast of South Pacific is dubbed. But that's just me."


Personally, it doesn’t bother me at all knowing someone is dubbed. I’m watching a character, and if it takes two people to bring the components of that character together in order the make the end result stronger, then so be it. In WSS, I’m not watching Natalie Wood, I’m watching Maria - so I don’t care that it’s not Natalie Wood’s voice.

Brave Sir Robin2 said: "Could this be an awards play for Audra? She won the Tony for this role (and, of course, five others), has some recognition from "The Good Fight" and "Private Practice," and Dee Rees is on the awards radar after "Mudbound.""

In all honesty, she’s probably the most mainstream actress capable of doing the part. Hollywood already has issues with diversity, and then factor in how many big names could actually sing the part, I don’t know of anyone more famous than Audra who could play the part. I get the feeling that this project may get scrapped, as they’re really gonna struggle to find big names who can actually play Porgy and Bess.

The key thing with Ferguson's dubbing, though, was that the role also had a lot of dialogue that called for her natural acting chops. Porgy and Bess, as an opera, is entirely sung-through. What acting would the dubbed big-name stars actually be doing? Pantomime-esque? Hand gestures?

bk said: "Yeah, wake me up when it actually happens."

Thanks, Bruce -- we're good. Please stay asleep.

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "The key thing with Ferguson's dubbing, though, was that the role also had a lot of dialogue that called for her natural acting chops. Porgy and Bess, as an opera, is entirely sung-through. What acting would the dubbed big-name stars actually be doing? Pantomime-esque? Hand gestures?"

Not to mention, she was a supporting role who only had the one big song. Also, her character’s supposed to be the greatest opera singer alive, so they needed an amazing voice (in all fairness, I don’t quite understand why they casted Ferguson whose not a big name when a more mainstream broadway actress like Jessie Mueller could’ve both acted and sang it). Anyway, people can accept a case like that, but they’d be much less forgiving of that happening with a leading role, especially in an opera.

Read the DEADLINE article that broke the story. It includes a lengthy statement from Dee Rees, which many of you obviously haven't read:

"With the help of a terrific artistic team, my vision is to invest this community with a new agency and re-locate the characters from a fictional landscape mostly viewed from the outside to a real geography with actual historical and cultural roots, relevance, and consequence and that has been built and lived from the inside......By accessing the spirit of the lyrics as they’ve been conjured, reinterpreted, and rearranged by greats like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, I’m most excited about inviting today’s brightest musical talents to lend new voice and spirit to both the joys and the frustrations of the ongoing struggle of African American citizens in this country. In this new adaptation, I’m hoping to raise the stakes for our hero and heroine, giving them full expression of existence placing emphasis not just on the circumstantial but on their rich inner lives and emotional pasts."



So, it sounds to me like it WON'T be set in Catfish Row in the 20s, and it WON'T be an opera. I do think it would be interesting to hear the score reinterpreted in a context that adds more modern relevance to a 21st century film –– whether that's ultimately successful or not is a different story, but it's worth a try. Remember also that P&B enters the public domain in the near future, and the Gershwin Estate is obviously invested in finding new ways to revitalize the brothers' work in a way that it can be relevant to 21st century listeners and audiences.

Please also keep in mind that [a] Dee Rees's latest film, The Last Thing He Wanted (Netflix), has a 6% RottenTomatoes rating; [b] this is a passion project for 88-year-old Irwin Winkler; [c] MGM is behind it, and aside from James Bond they've had a pretty awful track record recently. I'll believe it's happening when we see a trailer.

This does raise a point that had occurred to me a day ago: the songs in this opera exist in the popular culture as jazz standards, not as operatic arias. The most popular recording of the show is almost surely the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong version, not anything with actual operatic voices.

I will say that I'm very nervous about Dee Rees taking on this project. Maybe she'll knock it out of the park, but I haven't enjoyed any of her films that I've seen. And her new movie, The Last Thing He Wanted, has just been shredded by critics and audiences. She tends to have issues with focus and pacing, which could really kill a Porgy adaptation.