Before Clint Eastwood got his musical fix with Jersey Boys, he was eying the director's chair on a remake of A Star is Born, which had Beyonce set to star. But timing could never get worked out around Beyonce's busy schedule, so Eastwood moved on, and now his American Sniper star Bradley Cooper is stepping in to take his place.
Cooper is set to make his directorial debut on A Star is Born, with Beyonce still the choice to star. She hasn't been officially signed or anything like that but the studio wants her and will probably move mountains to get her. Will Fetters wrote the most recent draft of the script but Cooper will make a run at it himself in hopes of giving the fourth big screen take on the story his own spin. The story of a hopeful gal who gets help achieving stardom from a washed-up alcoholic actor was first told in 1937 by William Wellman, but really became famous with the 1954 film that starred Judy Garland and James Mason. Another well-known version arrived in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson as the leads.
When I recently spoke with Dan Fogelman for his new film Danny Collins (that interview to come), he said Cooper was still the choice to direct the comedy Honeymoon with Harry. So who knows how all of this will shake out. A lot of it is going to depend on Beyonce and when/if she can be pinned down long enough to take part. There's also the matter of finding her co-star. While a number of big names have been eyed at various points, Cooper was the most recent. He may decide to pull triple duty but that seems like a daunting task for a debuting filmmaker on a project of this size. [Deadline]
