Jamie Foxx in Talks to Star Opposite Quvenzhane Wallis in "Annie" Film Remake, Directed by Will Gluck | Playbill

Related Articles
News Jamie Foxx in Talks to Star Opposite Quvenzhane Wallis in "Annie" Film Remake, Directed by Will Gluck Oscar winner Jamie Foxx is in talks to star opposite Quvenzhane Wallis, a 2013 Academy Award nominee for her performance in "Beasts of the Southern Wild," in "Annie," the upcoming film remake of the 1982 movie musical that will be produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z.

//assets.playbill.com/editorial/b591e57faa8f9337cf417176ea19d73a-wallis200_1361813925.jpg
Quvenzhane Wallis

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Foxx would play a character named Benjamin Stacks, a variation of Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, and has received an offer from the production studio.

Foxx won the Academy Award in 2005 for his performance in "Ray"; that same year he was Oscar-nominated for "Collateral." He has also appeared in the films "Django Unchained" and "Law Abiding Citizen," among others. Wallis is the youngest Oscar nominee in Academy Awards history.

As previously reported, Will Gluck, producer of the films "Easy A" and "Friends With Benefits," will direct "Annie." Willow Smith, daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith, was originally slated to star in the title role. 

The film, produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Smith, is adapted from John Huston's screenplay by Oscar-winning screenwriter and actress Emma Thompson and Aline Brosh McKenna.

Sony is planning for a late-fall production start with an anticipated release during the winter holiday season in 2014. "I have been writing the script for nearly three years; it's exciting," said Thompson in an earlier interview with BBC News. "… Jay-Z has already started working on the music."

The film will include some of the Annie classics, which were written by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, but some will be cut for additions by Jay-Z. The rapper previously reworked "It's the Hard Knock Life" into his "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)," a single from his third album entitled "Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life."

The upcoming remake of the movie musical will be produced by Overbrook Entertainment, led by James Lassiter and Academy Award-nominated actor Smith and actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, in partnership with rap artist Jay-Z. Also prodiucing are Jay Brown, and Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith through Marcy Media.

Annie opened April 21, 1977, at the Alvin Theatre and went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, the Grammy for Best Cast Show Album and seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book (Thomas Meehan) and Best Score (Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin). The show was one of the biggest Broadway musical hits of the 1970s, running for almost six years and playing 2,377 performances. The musical was previously filmed in 1982 and remade for ABC-TV in 1999.

Annie's score includes "Maybe," "It's the Hard Knock Life," "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile," "Easy Street," "I Don't Need Anything But You" and "Tomorrow."

The current Broadway revival, under the direction of James Lapine, plays the Palace Theatre and stars Lilla Crawford.

 
RELATED:
Today’s Most Popular News:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!