Casting Call: It’s A Wonderful Life
In which we suggest who would star in the next big adaptation, remake, or historical film.
Perhaps the Greatest Christmas Movie of All Time (unless you’re in the Miracle on 34th Street camp), It’s a Wonderful Life is getting a sequel. Or maybe it isn’t, if Paramount gets its way (it probably will). Titled It’s a Wonderful Life: The Rest of the Story, the proposed film would focus on George Bailey’s grandson (child of Zuzu), who, like his grandfather, needs a little convincing that his life is worth living.
Directed by Frank Capra, the 1946 original tells the story of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), a man who sacrificed his dreams and his ambitions for others. As such, he never got to travel the world, as was his dream, instead running a modest loan association. His modest loan association is the only thing keeping his town from being taken over by classic movie villain Henry F. Potter. About to go into bankruptcy, George decides that everyone would be better off without him and decides on suicide. Of course, fate intervenes in the form of an angel, to show George all the good he’s done and what life would really be like for his loved ones without him—drunken, depressing, lonely.
The original is mandatory holiday viewing for a lot of families, and a sequel bound to be met with resistance from some diehard fans. Lucky for them, Star Partners and Hummingbird Production aren’t changing everything. There will be some familiar faces. Karolyn Grimes, who played George Bailey’s daughter Zuzu in the original, will play the guardian angel in this version.
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