If you’re a Nicole Kidman fan, you’ve been having quite a ride as of late. Through her HBO series The Undoing, as well as her role in the Netflix original film The Prom, audiences have seen the Australian actress quite frequently, even in a year of massive movie delays. Apparently there’s plenty more where that came from, as Kidman has just landed her next streaming movie. She’s in negotiations to play Lucile Ball in an Amazon Studios biopic.
Being The Ricardos is a film being set up at Prime Video’s home studio, which focuses on a week in the professional and personal lives of Lucille Ball and her husband/co-star Desi Arnaz. Per Deadline’s reporting, Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are being considered for the lead roles in Being The Ricardos. And in another case of streaming talent returning for another round, The Trial of the Chicago 7’s writer/director Aaron Sorkin will be filling both of those vacancies on this project as well.
Naturally, the inner workings of this potential casting for Being The Ricardos are still turning, and Nicole Kidman might not be the final victor when it comes to landing the gig. Still, this announcement already counts as a gigantic change for this film’s cast. Originally, when Aaron Sorkin was planning to merely write the film as a possible follow-up to Steve Jobs, Cate Blanchett was in the mix to play the legendary Lucille Ball. Seeing as those details were current as of a little over five years ago, that's apparently no longer the case.
While a potential casting isn’t a huge step forward until commitments are formed through binding contracts, the public reception to Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball will probably be something that the creative team behind Being The Ricardos will want to pay attention to. Also, scheduling woes could always rear its head, taking Kidman out of the running at a moment’s notice. In which case, it’s back to square one, and anything from last minute replacements to some sort of delay in production could take kick this project further down the road. Let’s just hope Being The Ricardos doesn’t suffer a similar fate to that of Trial of the Chicago 7.
As soon as we have further updates on Being The Ricardos, you can bet that CinemaBlend will break those details as they land. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the 2021 release schedule, as it looks like we’re about to undergo yet another massive shake up that’ll change everything. And if you’re looking for some more Nicole Kidman content, and haven’t gotten around to her latest efforts, The Undoing is available in its entirety on HBO Max, with The Prom taking its place in the Netflix streaming library.
