Meryl Streep As Hard Rocker? TriStar Closing Deal For ‘Ricki And The Flash’
EXCLUSIVE: Tom Rothman’s TriStar Productions is closing a deal to finance and distribute Ricki And The Flash, a hot package that had several studios circling because it comes with Meryl Streep playing a hard rocking mama. Scripted by Juno‘s Diablo Cody, the film will be directed by Jonathan Demme, and produced by Marc Platt and Mason Novick. This comes on the heels of TriStar’s deal with Robert Zemeckis to direct the 3-D experiential film To Walk the Clouds about the French aerialist Phillipe Petit who crossed between the Twin Towers on a wire in 1974. The project is based on Petit’s memoirs To Reach The Clouds and is being produced by Zemeckis with his ImageMovers Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey and Rothman. Landing Ricki and The Flash is a coup for Rothman.
Streep will play a rock n’ roll-loving woman who chased her tattered dream at the price of her family, but gets a last chance to get it right by reconciling with her estranged daughter. This isn’t some development deal. Rothman has committed to make the picture and Streep is already preparing. Demme has directed documentaries with Neil Young, and there was an impromptu encounter with Demme and Streep where Young was present, and the iconic guitarist and singer gave her some pointers. She has already demonstrated her ability to sing on Mamma Mia! This is new territory for an actress who has done most everything; her character belts out hard rock at night and is a grocery store checkout lady by day. Shooting begins this fall.
We’ve heard several studios were in the mix, including Universal, Fox and The Weinstein Company.
Demme knows the musical terrain; besides the films with Neil Young, he directed the seminal rock pics Stop Making Sense and produced That Thing You Do; Platt, who had Rothman’s job at TriStar when Demme made Philadelphia, is currently producing the film version of Into The Woods and the Broadway hit Wicked. Novick has produced Cody’s earlier films Juno, Young Adult and Bad Words.
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