Actor and director John Turturro is planning a big, blockbuster remake for his next film. He’s starred in them before, but so far his directing gigs haven’t exactly been tentpole movies. But he tells MTV that he’s planning a new version of The Nutcracker with Dakota Fanning as his leading lady.
He says, “It’s a really good script.” Lest you think he’ll turn it into some sort of serious drama he says, “I will be tap-dancing and singing, and doing the whole thing with Nathan Lane and Dakota Fanning I think cast as the young girl.” Turturro will play the bad guy role of the Rat King.
I have a hard time imagining the director of Romance and Cigarettes doing a musical, but this sounds like a sure thing. The Nutcracker has been adapted for film dozens of times before, but if you dispense with the holiday nostalgia attached to them and are perfectly honest about it, none of them have been very good. Maybe he can make it work this time.
