Steel Magnolias, the classic 80's flick starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts is getting the "remake treatment"... with an all-Black cast.  Get deets on the Kenny Leon-directed LIFETIME movie inside and find out what the producers of the Mahalia Jackson biopic said about Fantasia NOW....

As if news of the Sparkle remake wasn't enough, producers over at LIFETIME are, according to Deadline.com, digging in the crates and dusting off the 1989 film Steel Magnolias.  One of my faves when I need a good cry by the way.

The film, about a bunch of strong and sassy Southern women, originally starred Sally Field, Julia Roberts and Dolly Parton along with an all-star cast.  But this go-round, producers are switching things up by throwing race into the dynamic and setting the film in Louisiana with an all-Black cast.  Yes, I'm side-eyeing this one for now.

The project will be directed by Kenny Leon (who also directed Diddy and Phylicia Rashad in the 2004 Broadway revival for tv "Raisin In The Sun" and currently directing Angela Bassett & Samuel L. Jackson in Broadway's "The Mountaintop.")

Sally Robinson has signed on to write the new Steel Magnolias script and is expected to base it off Robert Harlings' screenplay for the movie. 

Now that we know LIFETIME wants to mimic the classic film and use an all-star cast, it begs the question....who should star in the remake?  Better yet...who SHOULDN'T.  We have a few to list for the latter.

Of course names like Angela Bassett, Alfre Woodard and Loretta Devine are likely to be thrown in the mix, but what about the newbies on the rise like Tika Sumpter and Tessa Thompson?

Who'd be in your all-star cast?

In other movie news....

We told you earlier that there was a lot of drama surrounding the "casting" of Fantasia Barrino as Mahalia Jackson in an upcoming film, and now the production company behind the film has come to the defense of the singer.

In a statement issued today, the company clears up the rumors about the movie's financing and how the Jackson family feels about Fantasia.

Here's their statement:

Double Dutch Productions, LLC. (DDP) extends apologies to Fantasia Barrino for the inaccurate, non-factual and disparaging statements of Ms. Barrino’s reputation, character and image, that was stated in the October 7, 2011 article of the NY Post’s Page Six column. The comments made in the article by financing broker Adrian Taylor, were not authorized, approved or condoned by the producers of DDP. The information and comments expressed within this article regarding the project were solely those of Adrian Taylor. Taylor is not an employee of this production company nor an active participant of any facet in the producing of this film. Taylor has been reprimanded on two previous occasions for speaking to the press about this project.  He was told that he was not a spokesperson nor a producer of the film, nor involved in the production or publicity of the film. Mr. Taylor’s credit of Executive  Producer will be valid only pending a final contract for financing. DDP and its producers disavow any statements or comments attributed to this article that were inappropriately made. Mr. Taylor does not speak for this company or the production of this film.

The Mahalia Jackson family has not made any negative comments non-what-so ever about Ms. Barrino and her participation in this film project.

We at DDP want to assure Ms. Barrino that in no way are we responsible for the information that was included in the article. ANY FUTURE COMMENTS FROM OUTSIDE PARTIES REGARDING THIS FILM THAT ARE NOT DIRECTLY PROVIDED BY DDP OR ITS PUBLICIST WILL BE DEEMED AS VOID, BOGUS AND INACCURATE.

 

Well.....I guess that clears up things.  And from the tone of the letter, seems as though they are indeed still trying to get their money right like Fanny told Wendy Williams this week.