Movies

Knightley in talks for 'My Fair Lady'

Published Friday, Jun 6 2008, 10:16 BST | By Simon Reynolds
Knightley in talks for 'My Fair Lady'

Rex Features

Columbia Pictures is negotiating with Keira Knightley to star in a new version of the musical My Fair Lady.

Variety reports that Duncan Kenworthy (Love Actually) and Cameron Mackintosh will produce the film, which will retain Alan Jay Lerner's stage lyrics and the 1912 setting. The movie will shoot at several UK locations including Covent Garden, Wimpole Street and the Ascot racecourse.

Originating on Broadway, the musical, based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, was first adapted for the screen in 1964. The film, which starred Audrey Hepburn as a Cockney flower girl-turned-high society lady, won eight Oscars.

Kenworthy said: "With 40 years of hindsight, we're confident that by setting these wonderful characters and brilliant songs in a more realistic context, and by exploring Eliza's emotional journey more fully, we will honour both Shaw and Lerner at the same time as engaging and entertaining contemporary audiences the world over."

Mackintosh added that the story "couldn't be more timely in a contemporary world obsessed with overnight celebrity".

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