I spy with my little eye Rita Moreno for Abuela Claudia. I don't care how limited her range is (we have AutoTune, and if she's too proud for that, lower the keys), and I also don't wanna hear **** about age. She may be 85, but this is her at 85:
Blue_Lotus said: "I don't mean to be ageist, but isn't America Ferrera too mature for the role of "Nina"? She's supposed to be a freshman in college, no?
America Ferrera is 32 years old now. She would look older if paired with an actor like Jordan Fisher, who is being considered for the role of "Benny"."
God I hope he doesn't get Benny. His Laurens/Philip left me with a lot to nitpick - he's extremely talented but he needs to play his damn intentions and stop mugging at the audience for a laugh
I hope they stay true to casting Latino and Latina actors (Benny would be an exception, obviously) and actresses. Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Ariana Grande should not be in this. This would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate the great talent in the Latin community.
(Apologies if this is a stupid question) Do we know for sure that Weinstein will rescind the rights? Can he still go ahead and make the movie or is there something that says the artists are allowed to take away the rights?
Weinstein Co is being fairly quiet, for obvious reasons. So, it's hard to know if they'll rescind the rights. But either way, this puts the brakes on the film for now. As Lin shot to super stardom for HAMILTON, I was hoping that would finally make the HEIGHTS film happen.
I just hope this film is put on hold long enough for them to get a competent director on board. Jon Chu has an abysmal filmography. Film versions of musicals need auteurs behind the wheel, not bland studio cronies. Give me someone with some controversy. Spike Lee, Cuarón, anyone but Chu.
I'm no expert in these matters, but I can't imagine that the company would agree to 'give back' the rights. If they did, then any other party that wanted to get out of a deal with the company (for any reason) without legal/financial repercussions, would try playing the same card. I also can't see the company making the film anytime soon and risking more bad publicity from going against the creators' wishes. So... it does indeed seem likely that the project will be on the shelf for a good while, unfortunately. Although, LMM might be rich enough to straightforwardly buy back the rights (or whatever financial/business maneuver is necessary?) if he chooses to.
(ETA: Actually, my mention of 'giving back' the rights is too imprecise, even by my layman standards. Presumably LMM and Quiara Alegria Hudes are at least expecting to have to return any upfront payments they may have received for selling the rights in the first place, if the deal is called off on terms favourable to them!)
Between Ramos' connection to 'A Star is Born's' success, and being able to market it as "from the director of 'Crazy Rich Asians'" -- combined with the LMM buzz/hype -- this could turn out to be a bigger than expected hit.