Back in 2010 Reese Witherspoon revealed she wanted to go back into the world of music biopics which had served her with Walk The Line, as she started developing a movie about Peggy Lee that your also planned to star in.
It’s taken a long time, but now the film has inched forward with the news that Todd Haynes (I’m Not There, Far From Heaven) is set to direct.
Nora Ephron was previously attached to write and direct, but her death in 2014 put the project into although the project stalled after she passed away in June 2012. Since then Doug Wright (Quills, Two Lovers) has been working on the screenplay though.
It’s not known exactly what direction the movie will take as Peggy Lee’s story doesn’t come with the usual trappings of a musical biopic, such as drug addiction and early death. However she was an incredible force in the incredibly male dominated music world, scoring no. 1s not just as a singer, but also by writing hits for other artists and becoming a mentor and inspiration to everyone from Frank Sinatra to Paul McCartney.
She also wasn’t afraid to change, starting off as a big band singer, moving through jazz, and doing covers of rock ‘n’ roll songs when they became popular. She also acted, including voicing several characters in Lady & The Tramp.
The openly gay Haynes first made his name as a leading light in the New Queer Cinema movement in the 1990s, thanks to films such as Poison, [Safe] and Velvet Goldmine. He also found huge acclaim for his 2011 mini-series version of Mildred Pierce, starring Kate Winslet.
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