Though director Will Gluck and producers Will Smith and Jay-Z had been after Sandra Bullock to take the role, the part of scheming, nasty orphanage owner Miss Hannigan will go to Cameron Diaz for the remake/update of Annie.
Quvenzhane Wallis will be putting her singing abilities to the test in the lead role, with Jamie Foxx set to play Benjamin Stacks, a new version of the character Daddy Warbucks.
What writers Aline Brosh McKenna and Gluck himself have done with the musical’s story remains to be seen, though chances are it will remain broadly similar with just some modern cred from a fresher soundtrack and other elements.
Given her experience being rubbish with kids in Bad Teache****r, Diaz should be a strong choice to pull off the role, though she’ll have to live up to Carol Burnett’s original take on the character from the 1982 film.
Gluck is set to kick off shooting later this year for a 2014 release date. Diaz is at work on 20th Century Fox’s **The Other Woman **and will be seen in Ridley Scott’s The Counsellor, which hits our screens on November 15.