EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that Sony’s Columbia Pictures just concluded the negotiations with Cameron Diaz today for the updated moppet movie musical starting production in the fall for a Christmas 2014 release. Sandra Bullock had been in talks for the role in Annie but pulled out recently. Beasts Of The Southern Wild‘s Quvenzhane Wallis, who became the youngest actress ever to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination, is on board to play the iconic orphan, and Best Actor Oscar winner for Ray, Jamie Foxx, is Daddy Warbucks in the classic comic strip-turned-musical being produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z and directed by Will Gluck. I think Diaz is an inspired choice to play the mean lady who runs the orphanage after the actress strutted her nasty in Sony’s Bad Teacher and a few other choice roles.
Cameron Diaz Signed For ‘Annie’ To Play Miss Hannigan After Sandra Bullock Passes
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wow. this sounds amazing. so happy to see Cameron getting quality roles like this and the Counselor. can’t wait to see her !!!
Cameron Diaz got this role because she is Sony’s go to girl right now ( Bad Teacher & The Counselor ) . I just don’t understand Hollywood , because Sandra Bullock & Cameron Diaz are not singers. What is wrong with hiring an actress ( or actor ) with genuine singing talent ? I am just baffled.
Nikki, how is Cameron Diaz a inspired choice. This lady has so singing talent whatsoever. Plus, Diaz is a mediocre actress that got lucky.
Terrible decision. Carroll Burnett played an amazing Ms. Hannigan and Cameron’s portrayal will just be crap. What were the casting directors thinking?
Sandra was smart and passed. Its a great property, but having Jay-Z and Smith on board as producers has the potential for being quite messy.
I thought Foxx was playing a “reimagined” Daddy Warbucks with a different name?
Fits Cameron like a glove she should fantastic.
You gotta be kiddin’ me – and yes I am spinning in my grave!
Yorn and Styne again are so smart
Into The Woods is going to be so much better.
OMG!!! I can’t wait to hear Cameron Diaz sing!!!!
Said no one, ever.
This continues to look more and more like a train wreck. Why a “black” version of “Annie” featuring actors and actresses who can’t sing? This is one of the biggest Broadway shows of all time, featuring timeless and classic music, and deserves to get treated right. I wish Will Smith and Jay-Z would get their hands off of this. And Diaz as Hannigan? Good God.
No wonder Disney scheduled “Into the Woods” opposite this train wreck.
Are you her pal? “Cameron”? You must be one of the freakish wanna-bees that has become a mainstay in here? And, it’s horrible casting.
Columbia Mishandled ANNIE is 1982 with a botched script adapted and shortened by a former tv writer who worked on “Peyton Place” and directed by a director who never did a musical in his life… The best musicals are faithful adaptions of their broadway counterparts directed by those skilled in handling musicals. No Colpix wanted close to 2 hours cause kids won’t sit through longer films – same time period Disney was still locked into the 79 minute running times for animated films!
Sony is now mishandling the property again!
…and Jane Lynch should be playing Hannigan!
I think she’ll actually be better.
This is far from inspired casting, such a missed opportunity. This lady can’t hold a candle to the likes of Dorothy Loudon or Carol Channing.
This will likely be a thankless and cartoonish character for her, no matter how big a success the movie turns out to be. I think she will probably get a career boost as a dramatic actor (not just comedic) after The Counselor, and this will not help. I like her, and I’m disappointed by this news. Sandra Bullock was smart to pass.
Concerned this director doesn’t know what the heck he’s doing.
She can’t sing. I hope they dub her songs. It’s silly for movies nowadays to insist that big name talent sing their own songs. The old classic musicals often dubbed their leads — Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music. Just do what’s best for the film, people!
Even though I agree that it’s an inspired choice, I have to say I’m surprised that you went there instead of a “snarky” comment for Diaz, general surprise plus the funny+pretty a no-no in Finkeland factor.
Smart move by Sandra. A “black variation” on ANNIE is a cultural embarrassment in 2013 — it sounds like something out of the ’70s, with Daddy Warbucks being renamed “Benjamin Stacks” or whatever it is they’re doing to the source material. Source material, btw, that’s still popular as it’s running on Broadway and performed in schools all around the country.
But, great first post from the Sony employee. You’d have to work there to believe this project “sounds amazing”.
Are you f**king kidding me?
I agree it’s an inspired choice but I like it. I see Diaz finally decided to take her career into different direction. Good for her.
Great choice! I can´t wait to see her move her booty and flirting with Jamie.
THIS project gets wotse with every passing headline! As a fan of the highly-underappreciated 80s adaptation, I can say with great certainty Cameron Diaz is NO Carol Burnett!
Secondly, as soon as I say the Jay-Z creative input/urbanization, this movie was sunk.
Finally, for historical purposes, the original ‘Annie’ comic strip was created as a pro-conservative anti-FDR subtle commentary Daddy Warbucks represented capitalism