Whirrr, whirr, whirr... That is the sound of back-pedalling, readers. Pretend you never heard anything about a My Fair Lady remake. We certainly never reported that Joseph Wright was directing, and that Keira Knightley was definitely in it. No, you are mistaken. This is the first time this story has surfaced. It is entirely new.
So... Wouldn't it be luvverly! etc. A new version of My Fair Lady, in which Professor Enry Iggins takes on the ladification of the cockerny Eliza Doolittle for a bet, but ends up growing accustomed to her face, is in the works. It will retain the Lerner and Loewe original's songs and score, but at the same time return more to its roots in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.
Keira Knightley has long been named in connection with the Eliza role, and it was previously reported that she'd beaten off competition from Scarlett Johansson, but no paperwork has yet been signed, so casting is still very much up in the air.
We may have a director though, in the form of John Madden, who previously brought us Shakespeare in Love, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, and the rather wonderful Proof. He's just finishing up Debt, starring Helen Mirren, and Variety reports that he intends to start casting My Fair Lady in the new year. The idea at the moment is that it will be filmed in the real locations: Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Ascot.
Final details or more rumour? Seems solid, but we're promising nothing...