Columbia Pictures to Develop My Fair Lady With CBS Films

- Duncan Kenworthy and Sir Cameron Mackintosh to Produce -

CULVER CITY, Calif., June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Pictures has entered
into an agreement with CBS Films to create a new motion picture of the Lerner
and Loewe classic musical My Fair Lady, to be produced by Duncan Kenworthy and
Cameron Mackintosh, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach,
presidents of Columbia Pictures. CBS Films will be actively involved in the
development of the new film.
The new film will use the original songs of the much-loved Broadway show,
and will not alter its 1912 setting, but Kenworthy and Mackintosh intend where
possible to shoot the film on location in the original London settings of
Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Tottenham Court Road, Wimpole Street, and Ascot
racecourse. The filmmaking team will also look to adapt Alan Jay Lerner's
book more fully for the screen by drawing additional material from Pygmalion
-- George Bernard Shaw's play that served as the source material for the
musical -- in order to dramatize as believably as possible for present-day
audiences the emotional highs and lows of Eliza Doolittle as she undergoes the
ultimate makeover, transforming under the tutelage of Professor Henry Higgins
from a Cockney flower girl to a lady.
Commenting on the announcement, Belgrad said, "My Fair Lady is not just
the quintessential stage musical and classic film, but a fantastic story.
We're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring it to the screen once again.
There is no one alive who knows this material better than Cameron Mackintosh;
he has staged two revivals of My Fair Lady, the first in 1979 directed by Alan
Jay Lerner himself, and the second the award-winning adaptation that's now
touring the United States. He and Duncan Kenworthy have already set out on
the long journey of bringing a new version to the screen and we feel very
lucky to be a part of it. This update will preserve the magic of the musical
while fleshing out the characters and bringing 1912 London to life in an
authentic and exciting way for contemporary audiences."
"My Fair Lady's extraordinary tale of a man turning a flower girl into a
lady, and then falling for her, combines one of the most powerful narratives
in world literature with some of the wittiest and most winning songs ever
written for the stage," said Mackintosh. "People everywhere will fall in love
again with Lerner and Loewe's miraculous songs set in a big, gorgeous film
with contemporary stars, a more realistically achieved vision of Edwardian
London, and a touch more Pygmalion at the heart of this powerfully emotional
story of a girl's transformation. The classic story of a flower girl
transformed into an instant sensation couldn't be more timely in a
contemporary world obsessed with overnight celebrity."
Kenworthy said, "When George Cukor shot his wonderful film entirely on
sets inside Warner's Burbank soundstages, Lerner and Loewe's smash hit musical
had been running on Broadway for seven years, and the film was appropriately
reverential and inevitably theatrical. With forty years of hindsight, we're
confident that by setting these wonderful characters and brilliant songs in a
more realistic context, and by exploring Eliza's emotional journey more fully,
we will honor both Shaw and Lerner at the same time as engaging and
entertaining contemporary audiences the world over. The casting of Eliza is
crucial, and we are currently in discussion with a major international star to
play the role."
The Pygmalion story has always been closely connected with the screen.
Gabriel Pascal's film of 1938, starring Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard, had an
Oscar-winning screenplay by George Bernard Shaw himself. My Fair Lady, with
book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, was first
staged in 1956. The musical starred Julie Andrews, rocketing her to stardom,
and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. It was then adapted for the screen
in 1963, directed by George Cukor, with Audrey Hepburn as Eliza and Rex
Harrison as Higgins. The film won eight Academy Awards(R), including Best
Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, and was nominated for four more.
Duncan Kenworthy has produced three of the most successful British films
of all time: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Love Actually, all
three written by Richard Curtis. Together, they grossed nearly $900 million
at the worldwide box office.
He began his career on Sesame Street in New York, then worked closely with
Jim Henson for 10 years in London as associate producer of The Dark Crystal,
co-creator and producer of cult HBO series Fraggle Rock, and producer of
Anthony Minghella's award-winning Storyteller and Greek Myths series. Through
his company, Toledo Productions, he produced the feature film Lawn Dogs with
Sam Rockwell, and a critically acclaimed miniseries of Gulliver's Travels
starring Ted Danson.
He has been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar(R) and three Golden Globes,
and has won five British Academy Awards and three Emmys. He was made an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) in 1999 for services to
film, and is the immediate past Chairman of the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts (BAFTA).
Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh has been called "the most successful,
influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by The New York
Times. He has produced many of the West End's and Broadway's most successful
musicals, including Cats, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss
Saigon, the West End production of Avenue Q, and the West End and Broadway
productions of Mary Poppins. His next big London production will be of
another classic, Oliver!, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in December this
year.
Mackintosh has staged two major revivals of My Fair Lady: the first, in
1979, was directed by Alan Jay Lerner, and the second, in 2001, was honored
with three Olivier Awards. The latter production, after closing in the West
End, toured the U.K. and is currently touring the United States to huge
acclaim.
He was knighted in the 1996 New Year's Honours list for services to
musical theatre.
About Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures, part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, is a
Sony Pictures Entertainment company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a
subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based
Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production
and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content
creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment
acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of
new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of
filmed entertainment in more than 100 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment
can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.
For further information contact:
Steve Elzer
Senior Vice President, Media Relations
Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group
(310) 244-7142
steve_elzer@spe.sony.com

SOURCE Columbia Pictures

Steve Elzer, Senior Vice President, Media Relations of Columbia TriStar Motion
Picture Group, +1-310-244-7142, steve_elzer@spe.sony.com