Film Version of Nine to Hit Theaters in November 2009

The much-anticipated big screen adaption of multi-award winning musical Nine will hit the big screen November 25, 2009, Variety reports. The Rob Marshall-helmed tuner stars Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis in the leading role of Italian filmmaker Guido Contini.

Also featured in the star-studded cast are Academy Award winners Penelope Cruz Carla, Marion Cotillard Luisa, Sophia Loren Guido's Mother, Nicole Kidman Claudia, Judi Dench Liliane La Fleur and Academy Award nominee Kate Hudson Stephanie, as well as pop-starlet Fergie, Ricky Tognazzi, Giuseppe Cederna, Valerio Mastandrea and Martina Stella.

Inspired by filmmaker Federico Fellini’s film 8 ½, the musical centers around celebrated director Contini, who, under artistic pressure, takes refuge in a Venetian spa. There, he is haunted and tantalized by the many women in his life, including his wife, mistress, mother and other various muses.

Penned by Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston, Nine originally debuted at the 46th Street Theater on May 9, 1982, starring Raul Julia as womanizing talent Contini, Karen Akers as his wife, Luisa, Liliane Montevecchi as Liliane La Fleur and Anita Morris as mistress Carla. The production won five Tony Awards, including Best New Musical, Best Original Score and Best Direction, playing 729 performances before closing on February 4, 1984. The show’s subsequent Roundabout Theatre Company revival in 2003, starring Antonio Banderas, Jane Krakowski, Laura Benanti, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chita Rivera and Mary Beth Peil, won two Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical and played 283 performances.

Yeston has written three new songs for the film version, including “Take It All,” to be performed by big screen musical veteran Kidman, as well as Cruz and Cotillard, and “Cinema Italiano,” a dance number penned for Hudson.

Nine will be produced by the Weinstein Company, with Yeston and Kopit acting as co-executive producers.