Boy George is in New York, preparing to tread the boards on Broadway for Moulin Rouge! The Musical — but I hear Hollywood is in his sights, too.
A £55 million deal is afoot to tell his life story in a studio picture titled Karma Chameleon, which will cover his rise from punk beginnings to pop superstardom, featuring on the cover of Newsweek magazine.
The heart of the film will tell how George O’Dowd, born into a working class Irish Catholic family in South London, rose to iconic status as a man in a dress who told interviewers that he liked both men and women — but would rather have a nice cup of tea than sex.
Behind closed doors, of course, he was involved in a secret doomed love affair with his Culture Club bandmate Jon Moss, and many of the band’s biggest hits were written about his feelings for the drummer.
Plans to tell the Boy George story have been in the works for some time, and a previous version of the biopic was announced in April 2021.
Boy George is in New York, preparing to tread the boards on Broadway for Moulin Rouge! The Musical
A £55 million deal is afoot to tell the star’s life story in a studio picture titled Karma Chameleon, which will cover his rise from punk beginnings to pop superstardom
That was to be directed by Brit Sacha Gervasi — the father of Geri Halliwell’s daughter, Bluebell — from a script he wrote, and with Gervasi’s wife, Jessica de Rothschild, as producer.
However I understand that Gervasi, who is based in Los Angeles, is now off the project; and that the studio which is buying the picture is going to have a completely new script written. They hope to shoot towards the end of this year.
All concerned hope to emulate the successes of Bohemian Rhapsody (the Queen biopic) and Rocket Man (the Elton John story). Producers aim to cast a rising name as George — and another as Moss.
I’m told Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan is fancied as the singer with Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey a possibility for the handsome Mr Moss.
A source says: ‘Everyone liked Sacha and his script. But the company who have come in want a much bigger film, with pop fantasy elements. It will dig more into George’s punk roots and his legacy in the LGBTQi field.’
From next month George will play club owner and emcee Harold Zidler in a Broadway production of Moulin Rouge! based on the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film. The show is due to run till May.
Gary Barlow is following in the footsteps of Ed Sheeran — by setting up in business as a property developer.
Gary Barlow is following in the footsteps of Ed Sheeran — by setting up in business as a property developer
He founded company GE & GB Property Ltd with businessman Geoff Egan last year and they have just bought an office and apartment block in Richmond, Surrey.
The Take That star is apparently down to his last £90 million. Poor chap.
Frank Skinner loves being recognised, and always takes the Tube — much to the consternation of his famous friends.
Frank Skinner loves being recognised, and always takes the Tube — much to the consternation of his famous friends
Skinner, 66, says. ‘I like all that — the selfie level of intimacy. I’ve always liked that. Probably I’d better not admit that this makes me feel proud and successful.
‘A comedian I can’t name, and I had to film something in town, a photoshoot, and I said: ‘Let’s get the Tube.’
‘He said: ‘I can’t, I’ll be mobbed.’ And I remember thinking that I am much more famous than you, and I get the Tube all the time. Honestly, grow up.’
Wags reveal matches made in heaven
Here comes the bride! We are about to see a lot more of singer and WAG Catherine Harding as she will be the star of a new reality TV show, Married To The Game. The programme, which will run on Prime Video from February 23, is going to feature Harding’s wedding preparations, after her Arsenal star boyfriend Jorghino proposed last December.
WAG Catherine Harding (pictured with footballer Jorginho) as she will be the star of a new reality TV show, Married To The Game
The six-part series will also follow Taylor Ward, as she plans her wedding to former Man City player (and captain of Algeria) Riyad Mahrez
Harding has a young daughter, Ada, from a fling with actor Jude Law; and a son, Jax (born in 2020) with Jorginho.
Alongside planning her wedding, Harding — who goes by the name Cat Cavelli in her music career — is also hoping to launch her own fashion business.
The six-part series will also follow Taylor Ward, as she plans her wedding to former Man City player (and captain of Algeria) Riyad Mahrez. She, Mahrez and their daughter Mila will be seen moving to Saudi Arabia, where the right winger now plays in the country’s Pro League.
Other WAGS featured are Sara Gundogan, multi-lingual model wife of Ilkay Gundogan, formerly of Man City and now Barcelona; Ash Turner, who is married to Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner; and Sam Tarkowski, wife of Everton centre-back James Tarkowski. The producers promise ‘an unprecedented glimpse into the lives of each of the women as they juggle work, family and home life, alongside their partners’ high-profile careers’.
Tilda Swinton always seems like a Very Serious Thesp indeed, but her daughter Honor Swinton Byrne seems to have a gift for comedy.
Tilda Swinton always seems like a Very Serious Thesp indeed, but her daughter Honor Swinton Byrne (Pictured: left) seems to have a gift for comedy
Honor, 26, is a hilarious scene stealer as plummy Lola Airedale-Cavendish-Kincaid, a made-up girlfriend of ‘Prince William’ in The Crown.
Film about songbird Eva needs help to get off the ground
The moving story of singer Eva Cassidy’s life and untimely death are to be told in a forthcoming film, The Essence Of Eva, which has now been finished.
The filmmakers have talked to everyone in the Maryland-born artist’s life, from friends and fellow musicians to family, including her parents — and even Mick Fleetwood, who spotted her performing in a bar and was blown away.
In the film, Chris Biondo, who Cassidy dated until just before she fell ill, reflects that she had ‘no idea how good she was’ when they first met.
The moving story of singer Eva Cassidy’s life and untimely death are to be told in a forthcoming film, The Essence Of Eva, which has now been finished
Bassist and music producer Biondo, who has never spoken before about their romance, reveals that their platonic relationship gradually became romantic after they connected through music, and eventually they discussed marriage.
Biondo says: ‘I talked to her about getting married and I don’t think she was the marrying kind. She just didn’t want to be tied to someone. She was a very self-contained person … so we didn’t fit too good.’
There are clips from six previously unheard songs in the documentary; as well as audio interviews, never broadcast, with Cassidy, whose singing reached a global audience after Terry Wogan played her version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow on his BBC Radio 2 show in 2000 … four years after her death.
The picture is due to go to the European film market in Berlin next month, but makers Atom now need to find around £21,000 to complete the colour grading and sound mastering, as well as cover legal and rights costs for songs used, and have launched an Indiegogo crowd fundraiser. Director Malcolm Willis says: ‘Like most independent documentaries, funding has been a continued hurdle. To date, we have mainly self-funded to maintain artistic control.’
Eva’s family and two fan clubs are backing the project.
The not-so-sweet smell of success…
Paul Giamatti, in London to bang the drum for his new film The Holdovers, said he had been asked not to wash during filming in order to better portray a curmudgeonly classics teacher, with an unfortunate disorder that makes him smell of fish, at a New England boarding school.
‘The hair and make-up people said, as far as you can, please don’t bathe, so that is what I did for all of you. They wanted me a little bit tacky, a little bit fish belly white, with greasy hair.’
Giamatti came to the BFI on the Southbank hot-foot from winning a Golden Globe for his part in the film and being pictured chowing down on an In-N-Out burger afterwards, in his tux, with partner Clara Wong and his award.
Paul Giamatti, in London to bang the drum for his new film The Holdovers, said he had been asked not to wash during filming in order to better portray a curmudgeonly classics teacher
The bookies have him behind favourite Cillian Murphy to win the Best Actor Oscar. The pair are also going head-to-head in the Baftas, as announced yesterday.
Of course, it’s not about the suffering… but Murphy arguably went to greater extremes than getting a little pongy to inhabit his character, eating as little as possible to look as cadaverous as scientist Oppenheimer was.
Speaking of the Oscars, a little bit of gloom is settling over the Barbie camp, after a relatively fruitless few nights at the awards.
Some think they may stop campaigning now as the massively successful film looks likely to be shut out of all the big awards.
They aren’t as gloomy as Bradley Cooper, though; whose efforts on behalf of the film he produced, directed and stars in — Maestro, about Leonard Bernstein — are also being ignored.
Television’s worst detective? Robson Green would like to nominate Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, the character he plays in ITV’s hugely successful drama Grantchester.
Robson Green would like to nominate Detective Inspector Geordie Keating as television’s worst detective
‘Nobody seems to have noticed that he’s literally never solved a crime during 50-plus episodes,’ Green marvels. ‘It’s the vicar alongside him who cracks the case.’
The actor is currently appearing in series eight of the show on ITV1.
‘Grantchester flies high because of the relationship between Geordie and the Rev Will Davenport,’ he conceded, ‘but as a detective, Geordie is rubbish. I’m surprised he’s still in a job!’
