Will the My Fair Lady Remake Give a New Shot in the Arm to Movie Musicals?

With Keira Knightly and Daniel Day-Lewis Perfectly Cast as Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins, the World Will Be Waiting for More Musicals with A-list Actors

When I saw the headlines that Keira Knightly and Daniel Day-Lewis have been cast in the new remake of "My Fair Lady", I had to think how brilliant of casting that was. Day-Lewis is certainly the Rex Harrison of today, especially after proving himself once again as Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood." Knightly may be close to Audrey Hepburn territory, though the jury is still out. At least Knightly is truly British, which will add more legitimacy to the role of Eliza Doolittle. And I get the feeling that Day-Lewis can probably do better than talk-sing as Harrison did as Henry Higgins on the stage as well as in the 1964 movie. Best of all, though, it gives a true shot in the arm back to musicals landing some seriously great actors in legendary stage roles. It means producers are having faith in the musical perhaps coming back after a bit of a dormant period.

The last time we saw any hoopla over a movie musical was "Chicago" in 2002 and, we all know, "Dreamgirls" in 2006. After the former won Best Picture at the Academy Awards that year, I expected a long slate of movie musicals on the roster and seeing a renaissance of musicals as Best Picture nominations again as the Oscars did back in the 1940's and early 50's. Instead, all we heard about were rumors of more musicals...and then not much until "Dreamgirls." Perhaps it's because there were some smart producers who understood that "Chicago" had a rare appeal along with being reminded that many musicals do better on television. Undoubtedly the failures at the box office of the underrated 2005 "Phantom of the Opera" film adaptation (plus the not-so-great "Rent") also almost killed the movie musical resurgence before it began.