Chris Evans is in talks to play legendary entertainer Gene Kelly in a currently untitled film. According to Deadline, the film is based on Evans’ original idea about a 12-year-old boy working on the MGM lot in 1952 who begins an imagined friendship with Kelly while working on his next film. The film does not yet have a studio attached.
According to the report, in addition to starring Evans will produce the film alongside Mark Kassen. Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T-Street Productions is also set to produce alongside John Logan who will write the film’s script. Johnson, Bergman, and Evans all worked together on Johnson’s film Knives Out. Logan is a three-time Academy Award nominee who wrote Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd and the James Bond film, Skyfall.
This is the latest project for Evans, who is best known for his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some of his current projects include Pixar’s Lightyear which is set to open in theaters on June 17 — Evans voices the human Buzz Lightyear character who inspired the action figure in the Toy Story films — as well as The Gray Man, which sees Evans re-team with Avengers: Endgame directors the Russo Brothers. Evans has also been cast in the Apple TV+ film, Ghosted which will see Evans re-team with his Knives Out co-star Ana de Armas, who replaces Scarlett Johansson in the film. That project is expected to enter production in February and will be directed by Dexter Fletcher.
Gene Kelly was a legendary American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer who starred in, choreographed, or co-directed some of the most well-regarded and well-known musical films of the 1940s and 1950s. He is perhaps best known for his performances in films such as Anchors Aweigh, An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain, Brigadoon, and It’s Always Fair Weather, among others.
No additional information is available about the Gene Kelly project at this time.
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