While currently waiting for the slew of awards nominations to roll in for his last directorial project, Aaron Sorkin is already gearing up to return to the director’s chair with Being the Ricardos at Amazon, which has entered talks with Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem to star, according to Deadline.
Penned by Sorkin, the film is set during a week of production on the iconic 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy, which began with table reads on Mondays and ended with audience filming on Fridays, and will focus on the real relationship between stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, namely as they face a crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage. Sources report that Sorkin originally did not intend to direct the project, only write, but after enjoying the directing experience on the Netflix-acquired historical drama elected to take the director’s chair this past summer.
Sources also report that though their deals have yet to be closed, Kidman and Bardem became interested in the project following the release of The Trial of the Chicago 7 and that a production start date has yet to be set as the pandemic continues to prove to be a problem to productions across the country. The project was previously in development with Cate Blanchett set to star, though it’s unclear why the two-time Oscar winner dropped out.
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The film is set to be produced by Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch, with Escape’s Jenna Block and David Bloomfield, Stuart Besser, Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lauren Lohman all attached to the project as executive producers.
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