We’ve been closely following writer/director Aaron Sorkin‘s new project “Being The Ricardos,” which has been bubbling behind the scenes for months at Amazon. In fact, we spoke to Sorkin recently about “The Trial Of The Chicago 7” (interview soon), and the writer/director played mum on all our questions, but promised news was coming soon. He wasn’t kidding. Deadline reports that “Being The Ricardos,” a film about the life of “I Love Lucy” star Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, is now eyeing Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, respectively, for the lead roles.
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If this project sounds familiar, it’s because it’s not that old and was once titled, “Lucy and Desi,” a biopic Sorkin wrote about the famous producing duo. Cate Blanchett was originally attached to play the lead female role, but she quietly dropped out of the project last year (names that came up in the mix were Amy Adams and many Hollywood A-listers). Sorkin, who originally just wrote the project, decided to direct it too, probably emboldened by the strong response to his aforementioned directorial effort “The Trial Of The Chicago 7,” which looks like it could be a strong Oscar contender this year.
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Deals still need to close for both actors, and a production start date is apparently up in the air because of the ongoing uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to push productions throughout the country.
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According to Deadline, “the film is set during one production week of I Love Lucy — Monday table read through Friday audience filming— when Lucy and Desi face a crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage.”
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Sorkin appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast last fall to discuss “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and towards the end of the conversation, teased that the film might shoot after Thanksgiving. “I’m very lucky, and I’m probably going to get hated because of that,” Sorkin said about being able to make every screenplay he’s written thus far into a movie. “I’ve written something, and it’s got made.” After that, Sorkin teased the “Being The Ricardos” feature film script (though didn’t name it), which obviously did not shoot after Thanksgiving, likely due to not locking down a cast, but clearly, he’s close and ready to go once he gets a green light.
“Being The Ricardos” was originally reported all the way back in 2015, with the aforementioned Cate Blanchett attached to play Lucille Ball, and Amazon producing. Still, there hadn’t been any significant updates since 2017, when the studio was looking for directors.
Of course, Ball was a trailblazer on-screen and off, as she became the first woman to run a major TV production studio File this one under Most Anticipated 2022. [Deadline]