Parker gets her 'Man' for DreamWorks
'Dinner' date
March 11, 2004
There is life after "Sex and the City" for Sarah Jessica Parker.
The Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress, who recently ended her six-year run as Carrie Bradshaw on HBO's "Sex and the City," is in discussions with DreamWorks about taking a lead role in the studio's big-screen redo of "The Man Who Came to Dinner."
Details of the project are being closely guarded, but it is known that Michael Leeson wrote a version of the script, which is being shepherded by studio co-heads Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. Negotiations have not yet begun for Parker to fill the role, sources said, because her agreement to star is contingent upon whom the studio finds to take the lead male role. Steve Martin was offered the part, but his reps confirmed that he recently passed on the project.
DreamWorks' "Man" is the latest reworking of the classic American comedy that describes the plight of a well-to-do family who find themselves with an unexpected house guest after a visit from Sheridan Whiteside, an acid-tongued critic who breaks his leg and is taken in by the family. Whiteside is accompanied by Maggie Cutler, his long-suffering secretary in whose affairs he meddles.
Based on the 1939 play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, "Man" has been filmed four times, once for the big screen and three times for TV. Monty Woolley starred in the 1941 film version as the blustery Whiteside, with Bette Davis beside him as his assistant. Subsequent TV versions starred Frank Pettingell and Felicity Gower in 1947, Orson Welles and Lee Remick in 1972 and Nathan Lane and Harriet Harris in 2000.
If Parker were to sign on, it would mark her first big-screen effort in more than three years. She most recently starred in "Life Without Dick" and "State and Main." She is repped by CAA.
The Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress, who recently ended her six-year run as Carrie Bradshaw on HBO's "Sex and the City," is in discussions with DreamWorks about taking a lead role in the studio's big-screen redo of "The Man Who Came to Dinner."
Details of the project are being closely guarded, but it is known that Michael Leeson wrote a version of the script, which is being shepherded by studio co-heads Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. Negotiations have not yet begun for Parker to fill the role, sources said, because her agreement to star is contingent upon whom the studio finds to take the lead male role. Steve Martin was offered the part, but his reps confirmed that he recently passed on the project.
DreamWorks' "Man" is the latest reworking of the classic American comedy that describes the plight of a well-to-do family who find themselves with an unexpected house guest after a visit from Sheridan Whiteside, an acid-tongued critic who breaks his leg and is taken in by the family. Whiteside is accompanied by Maggie Cutler, his long-suffering secretary in whose affairs he meddles.
Based on the 1939 play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, "Man" has been filmed four times, once for the big screen and three times for TV. Monty Woolley starred in the 1941 film version as the blustery Whiteside, with Bette Davis beside him as his assistant. Subsequent TV versions starred Frank Pettingell and Felicity Gower in 1947, Orson Welles and Lee Remick in 1972 and Nathan Lane and Harriet Harris in 2000.
If Parker were to sign on, it would mark her first big-screen effort in more than three years. She most recently starred in "Life Without Dick" and "State and Main." She is repped by CAA.
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