Saturday, June 30, 2018

"Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again featurette

A brief featurette entitled "Becoming Donna" was released yesterday with commentary by Meryl:

     

She's very complimentary of Lily James, who plays the younger version of Donna in the sequel. It's cute how James lights up when she talks about Meryl and how she's "the greatest actress of all time."

In related news, a recent article in Forbes is reporting that the film is expected to bring in around $30 million in it's opening weekend of July 20.

Friday, June 29, 2018

Streep attached to Gerwig's "Little Women"

Hot off the presses, Variety broke the news earlier today that director Greta Gerwig is assembling an-all star cast for her adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women. Meryl's name is included in the crop of actors circling the roles, with Saoirse Ronan, Emma Stone and Timothée Chalamet in talks as well. 

We know that as early as last fall, Gerwig had said in an interview that she was essentially coaxing Meryl for a role in her newest project. I was first alerted to the possibility of that role being in Little Women by a reader of this blog. It definitely made sense at the time, and with the other actors attached, I'm hoping that Meryl would play the mom, Marmee.

There is currently a ton of speculation out there (I've done a lot of snooping) about who is going to play which role. My guess is that the actors in Gerwig's adaptation are going to be a good 10 years older than the actual ages of their characters from the original novel.  Which is fine by me if it means Meryl will have a more meaty role.  Current tracking has Ronan for the lead role of "Jo," with Stone as "Meg."  Chalamet is rumored to be portraying "Laurie," who marries the youngest sister, "Amy."

Another big speculation is whether Gerwig will be placing the film in its original setting of Civil War-era Massachusetts.  Some "insiders" on Twitter have suggested that she is putting a more modern spin on it (which to me would be particularly refreshing), but that of course remains to be seen.

Other sites have indicated that the film is set to shoot near Boston in September and October. It makes me wonder how this would potentially conflict with Meryl participating in Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromate, which is reportedly scheduled to film this fall as well. If that's the case, and Meryl is involved with both films, it make me think that her role in Laundromat will indeed be a fairly minor one, even if her character is supposed to be the "emotional throughline" of the picture (I recently finished reading Secrecy World, and if her character is who I think it may be, she's barely mentioned in the book). Were both these roles supporting, she should have no problem filming each. It could be like the shooting schedule for a single lead role.

AS ALWAYS, time will tell on all these questions. Of course it's extremely exciting to have Meryl involved in another enticing project. Add in Big Little Lies and 2019 might end up being one of the biggest years she's ever had.

Streep, Stone, Ronan, Chalamet and Gerwig

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Cher with Meryl in ET segment on "Mamma Mia!" sequel

Entertainment Tonight did a little segment on Cher's participation in the upcoming Mamma Mia! sequel and we get a little blurb of Meryl talking about her:

                                     

Lord knows she's had her share of work done, but Cher looks damn good. Some nice clips from other returning members of the cast as well. The film hits theaters three weeks from Friday!

Friday, June 22, 2018

Happy 69th, Meryl!

Today, Meryl begins her 70th year on this great Earth. Hard to believe she's already 69, but what a decade she's had. With an Academy Award and four other nominations, she's continuing to put out exquisite and varied performances, and showing no signs of slowing down. We get to look forward to two movies this year, an apparently juicy role on Big Little Lies next winter and a chance to team with Steven Soderbergh in filming a hotly-anticipated political thriller this fall with The Laundromat. 

She's the gift that keeps on giving and I hope she has a chance to do something today she enjoys as much as I've enjoyed following her onscreen career.

Here's to you, marvelous Meryl.





Sunday, June 17, 2018

Season 2 of "Big Little Lies" in the can?

Nicole Kidman has been more than generous with her Instagram posts in regard to updates on filming of the second season of Big Little Lies. Her latest seems to suggest that shooting has indeed wrapped:


I recently reported that it looked like filming would be coming to a close soon, and that now seems to be the case.  I've read that there are a lot of interior shots for the series that were not shot in Monterey, but if memory serves, those were taken care of in the first half of production.

As I've also previously mentioned, the big question now is when the hell will be get to see the new season?! We already know it's not coming this year, so the best we can hope for is the first quarter of 2019, which seems reasonable, considering season one began in February last year. Is February sweeps still a thing, even if it's HBO? 

Now can we please get a few more details on The Laundromat soon?

Sunday, June 10, 2018

New clip from "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

A clip I haven't seen yet showed up on YouTube the other day from United International Pictures, an Argentinian site that is likely distributing the film there:



The clip shows the filming of the "Waterloo" scene, where young Donna (Lily James) meets young Harry (Hugh Skinner).  Donna of course was played by Meryl in the original ten years ago, while Harry was portrayed by Colin Firth.

The premiere of the film is kind of sneaking up on us, with only six weeks remaining before it arrives in theaters in the U.S. and U.K.

Monday, June 4, 2018

Filming wrapping up on "Big Little Lies" season 2

The much-anticipated second season of HBO's powerhouse limited series Big Little Lies began filming in mid March. There have been a few articles recently indicating that production is still underway, but that it's likely wrapping up this month. Three months sort of seemed like a reasonable length of time, but when I consider that it's almost seven hours worth of programming, that's actually a pretty swift schedule. This photo of Meryl with a Monterey resident is a few weeks old,  but it's the first time I've seen it anywhere:


Nicole Kidman's Instagram photos of her and her costars out bowling has been making the social media rounds today as well.  I had a lazy afternoon yesterday and just happened to watch the last episode from season one and it is so damn good. This is going to be a wonderful thing to look forward to for several weeks this winter. 

(on left) Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep and Shailene Woodley