James Tisch April 17th, 2017 - 6:30 PM
What does Lady Gaga have in common with Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand? The pop superstar will headline an upcoming remake of the often-filmed A Star is Born. On Monday, Warner Bros. debuted the first image from the image which will pit Gaga (who will be billed under her given name of Stefani Germanotta) and Bradley Cooper in a re-staging of the Hollywood staple. The film will also mark the directorial debut of Cooper.
The film has commenced production – with Sam Elliott (Grandma) and Andrew Dice Clay (Blue Jasmine) rounding out the cast – in which Cooper will portray a country music star who takes in an aspiring young talent, played by Gaga. In classic melodramatic fashion, their relationship is tested when her star status starts to eclipse his, all of which puts into question and further tumult their budding romance. Originally, A Star is Born was brought to the screen by William Wellman with Fredric March and Janet Gaynor headlining; subsequent remakes include the 1954 George Cuckor version starring James Mason, which featured an iconic performance from Judy Garland (who earned an Oscar nomination), as well as a 1976 remake starring Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand.
Furthermore, Warner Bros. put a call out announcing that scenes for the feature will be filmed at Coachella – Lady Gaga recently headlined the Indio concert.
Be there when @ladygaga films for A #StarIsBorn on the #Coachella grounds nxt wk! Sign up now: https://t.co/2T7FDjkzmz
— Warner Bros Pictures (@wbpictures) April 15, 2017
Cinematographer Matthew Libatique – Oscar nominated for his work on Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan – recently took to Instagram to plug the film’s impending production start.
A post shared by libatique (@libatique) on
This latest iteration of A Star is Born found itself in the midst of many hands before Cooper officially attached to star and direct. At one point, Clint Eastwood was attached to project and hoped to cast Beyonce alongside Cooper. The latest version of the screenplay was penned by Oscar winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump), with Cooper and Will Fetters (The Lucky Ones) having contributed to prior versions.
A Star is Born is set for release on September 28, 2018.
