Casting Call: Guys and Dolls
In which we suggest who would star in the next big adaptation, remake, or historical film.
Fans of Guys and Dolls are in luck: a remake of the stage and movie classic is finally underway. 20th Century Fox secured the film rights early last year, and Emmy award-winning screenwriter Danny Strong recently signed on to pen the screenplay. Strong, best known for The Butler and HBO’s Game Change, will also be writing the two-part Mockingjay finale to The Hunger Games series.
A little background: Guys and Dolls made a splash in 1950 when it premiered on Broadway to unanimously rave reviews. The show—a fun-loving portrayal of gangsters and gamblers in 1940s-era New York City—took home five Tony Awards in 1951, including Best Musical. A movie adaptation with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra hit the silver screen in 1955, and rumors of a remake have been swirling on and off ever since (everyone from Harvey Weinstein to Hugh Jackman has tried to get in on a remake of this film).
The story revolves around the friendship between gamblers Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson (Sinatra and Brando in the 1955 film, respectively). Nathan bets Sky $1,000 that that Sky can’t convince the next “doll” that walks by to go to Havana, Cuba with him, and chooses the beautiful but pious Sarah Brown as Sky’s unsuspecting target. This inevitably sets off a raucous chain of events, including but not limited to: getting Sarah drunk in Havana, nightclub performances with Nathan’s fiancée and her Hot Box girls, a swarm of gamblers willingly amassing in Sarah’s mission, and iconic songs like “Luck, Be a Lady Tonight” and “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.” Bearing in mind the triple-threat singing, dancing, and acting skills required of the cast, we’ve got some suggestions that Fox would do very well to consider.
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