Streep attached to star in limited series adaptation of "The Corrections"

Holy shit. I first saw this news early this morning from from Puck (run by Matt Belloni, former editor of The Hollywood Reporter and likely totally legit), and I was a little leery that no other news outlets were announcing it. Variety has now picked up on it and is also reporting that Streep is attached to star in a limited series adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's 2001 National Book Award-winning novel, The Corrections for CBS studios. Franzen is apparently penning the script for the series. 

I had posted twelve years ago after a pilot for the novel adaptation with Dianne Wiest and Chris Cooper was not picked up by HBO for series that I though Meryl should star in a film version. I loved the novel and it is a brilliant story of a complicated American family. The book is long and totally makes the most sense to adapt it over the course of four to six hours versus a feature film. Meryl would paly Enid, the mother of three grown children who wants their Midwestern family to get together for one last Christmas. 

Evidently the project is going to be shopped to distributors/streaming services soon. I imagine it won't start filming until sometime next year, with a likely release of 2026? If the Devil Wears Prada sequel happens I would expect that to also be for 2026. Maybe they're closer to production for The Corrections than we realize, and an early 2025 shooting schedule could result in a late 2025 release. Regardless, if this turns out to be legit and eventually happens, it's exactly the time of limited series I would love to see Meryl do! An adaptation with original characters in a beloved American tale. 

So excited to see where this leads!

Meryl Streep to reportedly star in series adaptation of Jonathan Franzen’s ‘THE CORRECTIONS.’

It revolves around the troubles of a Midwestern couple and their adult children, tracing their lives from the mid-20th century to one last Christmas together.

(https://t.co/fMsanSCD8l) pic.twitter.com/eXVsh7TSP8

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 27, 2024

Marvel for Meryl?

Will Meryl be entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Casting director Sarah Halley Finn was asked at the Agatha All Around premiere earlier this week whom she'd like to cast in a Marvel movie. She pretty emphatically announced Meryl. 

Sarah Halley Finn says Meryl Streep can play "anything she wants" in Marvel. Has she been approached? "Maybe." But there hasn't been "the right role," yet. #AgathaAllAlong https://t.co/fovgx9Ba68 pic.twitter.com/E5QBwgcU7s

— Variety (@Variety) September 17, 2024

This isn't the first time Meryl has been rumored to have been approached or to be in talks for a role in a Marvel movie. But this sounds a little more specific and intentional, in that I'm guessing Meryl (through her people or whatever) has been contacted to see if she'd be interested in a Marvel project. And I'm guessing Meryl may have responded with something like "if the right role were to come along." 

For real though, I'm sure it'll come as no secret that I'd be totally fine with Meryl setting her sights elsewhere. The only possible projects that we know about currently are both Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia! sequels. To think that something as painfully mainstream as a superhero movie would be taking up her time is maddening to me. Yes, yes, it's possible there could be a fascinating role in store, and if it opened her to a new legion of fans, fine. But I'm thirsty for something more Meryl-y. 

I'm not holding my breath that this will happen anytime soon. 

Predicting the Emmys

The Primetime Emmys are tomorrow night, and Meryl is of course nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for work in season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. I saw a pic of Meryl's face in a seating chart for the show, so it appears that she'll be attending! I wonder if we'll see her hand-in-hand with co-star Martin Short. 

I had the chance to watch the Robin Roberts Emmy special on ABC and it was interesting to hear Meryl talk about the sort of genesis of her joining the show. She basically shared that she was getting sort of down due to world events and needed to experience something happy. It makes me wonder if it's possible that she held back on participating in other projects that may have been 'heavier' because she just wasn't in a good frame of mind. Places, Please (or The Great Lillian Hall as it came to be) was not exactly a ball of laughs, for example. I know I've been clear about how ambivalent I am about Meryl possibly being sequels for The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia!. But if it provides her a sort of reset to be able to possibly dig into things a bit more meaty, then I'm all for it. 

To the Emmys. Meryl has a decent shot to take this. But the odds are on Hannah Einbinder for Hacks. I wouldn't be bummed at all if she took the trophy, because I'm a huge fan of that show. Only thing that bugs me is that she's totally not supporting. She and Jean Smart are absolutely co-leads. But that's how things go these days when there are two people of the same gender too close to cancelling each other out in the same category. 

Other categories I'm interested in seeing are for Limited Series (Baby Reindeer is the front-runner and I really enjoyed the show), and how The Bear does. I love that show, but it's complete category fraud, in my opinion that it's in comedy. Shogun is going to win in a lot of top categories from drama. I'm also kind of pulling for Juno Temple in Fargo and Andrew Scott in Ripley. 

The show airs at 7 p.m. central time on ABC Sunday night. I'll leave y'all with this little nugget of Carol Burnett getting a little message from Meryl.