Glenn Close Says SUNSET BOULEVARD Film is 'Moving Forward'
"The movie is in the works and I’m not giving up on that one," Close told US Weekly.
By: Josh Sharpe May. 03, 2024
Glenn Close has given a new update on the Sunset Boulevard film adaptation, revealing that it is "moving forward."
“The movie is in the works and I’m not giving up on that one,” Close said to US Weekly at Variety’s 2024 Power of Women luncheon.
Speaking on Norma Desmond, Close shared her love for the character: “It’s so beautiful to me that she’s always still so relevant. The time passes, but that character is always important.
“We’re trying to find a director, we have a great script. … That character of Norma is so heartbreakingly beautiful and will never not have relevance, it’s been a great blessing to play her and I’m not willing to let her go yet without one more tribute," the actress added.
The long-awaited film has been in development for years, with Close and Andrew Lloyd Webber shopping it to several film studios. Close originally stated that the film would go into production with Paramount in the summer of 2021. However, Webber revealed that Paramount ended up passing on it.
About Sunset Boulevard:
Based on Billy Wilder's classic Academy Award-winning film, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony Award-winning Best Musical SUNSET BOULEVARD features a celebrated book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.
In her mansion on Sunset Boulevard, faded, silent-screen goddess, Norma Desmond, lives in a fantasy world. Impoverished screen writer, Joe Gillis, on the run from debt collectors, stumbles into her reclusive world.
Persuaded to work on Norma's 'masterpiece', a film script that she believes will put her back in front of the cameras, he is seduced by her and her luxurious life-style. Joe becomes entrapped in a claustrophobic world until his love for another woman leads him to try and break free with dramatic consequences.
Before it premiered as a Broadway musical, SUNSET BOULEVARD was first performed in London's West End at the Adelphi Theatre in 1993 starring Patti LuPone, where it ran for almost four years and played to nearly two million people. The American premiere was at the Shubert Theatre in Century City, Los Angeles in December 1993 with Glenn Close as Norma. The musical was an instant success and played 369 performances before moving to Broadway in 1994 with, what was then, the biggest advance in Broadway history, at $37.5 million.
Two major productions of the musical are set to open in 2024. The West End revival, starring Nicole Scherzinger, will be transferring to Broadway this fall, as well as an Opera Australia and GWB Entertainment production featuring Sarah Brightman. Performances for the Brightman-led production begin in Melbourne on May 21.
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