Odds & Ends: Broadway Alums Jennifer Hudson & Tom Hanks Nab Spot-On Biopic Roles & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you may have missed today and this weekend.

Jennifer Hudson to Play Queen of Soul; Tom Hanks to Play King of Cardigans
Make a joyful noise! Oscar winner and Broadway alum Jennifer Hudson had quite the Grammy weekend. According to Deadline, music mogul Clive Davis announced that Hudson will be playing Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin in a forthcoming biopic that MGM is in the process of acquiring. The news broke at Davis’ annual pre-Grammy party. In other perfect casting news, Tony nominee Tom Hanks is set to lead the TriStar Pictures production You Are My Friend, a biopic of Mister Rogers Neighborhood creator Fred Rogers. Deadline reports that Marielle Heller will helm the film, which will begin production in the fall, which is coincidentally the perfect season for cardigans.

Stage & Screen Music Man John Morris Is Dead at 91
The New York Times reports that John Morris, who earned Oscar nominations for his musical work in the films Blazing Saddles and The Elephant Man, died on January 25 at his home in Red Hook, New York at the age of 91 as a result of a respiratory infection. A longtime Mel Brooks collaborator, Morris lent his musical talents to movies like The Producers and Young Frankenstein, the latter of which is drumming up buzz in the West End as a stage production. His numerous Broadway credits included musical work in Bells Are Ringing, Bye Bye Birdie and more.

More Movie/TV News for Hamilton Mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda
Leave it to Lin-Manuel Miranda to win his third Grammy Award on Sunday night and continue to make headlines on Monday. According to Deadline, the Hamilton mastermind’s forthcoming animated film Vivo, featuring a script by Miranda’s In the Heights collaborator Quiara Alegría Hudes, is slated for release on November 6, 2020. The film was previously scheduled to hit theaters on December 18, 2020. In addition, Variety reports that Sam Raimi will helm Miranda’s Kingkiller Chronicle TV series. Another day, another chance for Miranda to EGOT.

Hairspray Tony Winner Marissa Jaret Winokur Tapped for Celebrity Big Brother
Forget The Corny Collins Show. Tracy Turnblad would totally rush home after school to see this! Hairspray Tony winner Marissa Jaret Winokur will be locked in a house with famous strangers for two-and-a-half weeks on the latest edition of Big Brother. According to Entertainment Weekly, Celebrity Big Brother will premiere on CBS on February 7. Could this inspire a Big Brother: Broadway Edition? Fingers crossed.

Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimerica Set for Small Screen Series
The Children may be wrapping up its run at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on February 4, but Lucy Kirkwood is certainly keeping busy. Variety reports that the playwright’s Olivier-winning work Chimerica will be adapted into a four-part TV series for Britain’s Channel 4. Kirkwood will serve as an executive producer. The play follows an American photojournalist who witnessed the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989. With fake news permeating the media narrative 23 year later, he sets out to find the subject of his most famous photograph.

Susan Smith Blackburn Finalists Named
The oldest and largest prize awarded to women playwrights, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, has announced its 2017-18 finalists. The winner will be named at a ceremony in the Big Apple in early March and awarded a cash prize of $25,000, with all finalists receiving $5,000. Chosen from over 150 nominated plays, the finalists are Alice Birch (Anatomy of a Suicide), Elinor Cook (Out of Love), Fiona Doyle (The Strange Death of John Doe), Aleshea Harris (Is God Is), Colleen Murphy (The Breathing Hole), Antoinette Nwandu (Pass Over), Nina Raine (Consent), Anusree Roy (Trident Moon), Tori Sampson (If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfucka) and Lauren Yee (The Great Leap).