It’s Official: Quvenzhané Wallis Will Star In ‘Annie’Posted by Wilson Morales
February 24, 2013
Source: THR
Quvenzhané Wallis, the Oscar-nominated star of Beasts of the Southern Wild, will play the title role in Annie, it was announced today by Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad and president of production Hannah Minghella.
The film is scheduled to be released during the holiday season, 2014.
“With the recent Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim, Quvenzhané Wallis is a true star and we believe her portrayal as Annie will make her a true worldwide star. She is an extraordinary young talent with an amazing range, not only as an actress but as a singer and dancer, and we can’t wait for audiences to further discover her,” Minghella said.
The film is being directed by Will Gluck (Easy A) and produced by James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith through Overbrook Entertainment, and by Shawn “JAY Z” Carter, Jay Brown and Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith through Marcy Media.
Gluck is currently revising the film’s screenplay, which was written by Emma Thompson and rewritten by Aline Brosh McKenna based on the musical stage play Annie, book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, which was in turn based on the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie.”
The film is being overseen at the studio by Andrea Giannetti and Devon Franklin.
The musical, which first opened in 1977, was previously filmed in 1982 by director John Huston.
Wallis, repped by ICM Partners and Thruline Entertainment, will next be seen in Steve McQueen’s Twelve Years a Slave.
