Netflix has nabbed the rights to Bradley Cooper's untitled Leonard Bernstein film. Cooper will direct, star in, and produce the project from a script he co-wrote with Oscar winner Josh Singer.
The film was originally arranged at Paramount with an impressive lineup of producers, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Todd Phillips and Kristie Macosko Krieger.
According to Deadline, the movie will depict the complex marriage story between Leonard Bernstein and his wife, Felicia Montealegre. The couple were married despite Bernstein's homosexuality being uncontested. Eventually, Bernstein left to be with a male partner, only to return to his marriage when Montealegre was diagnosed with cancer. The couple stayed together until she died.
Bernstein is best known for his scores to West Side Story, On the Town, Candide, Peter Pan and other musicals. The Tony Award-winning composer was born August 25, 1918, and died October 14, 1990.
This new film deal with Cooper marked the end of a rival project that scouted Jake Gyllenhaal to star as Bernstein in a film Cary Fukunaga would have directed, Deadline reports.
A production timeline, film title, and further casting will be announced at a later date.
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