Renée Zellweger will strap on her dancing shoes, a wig, and a sequined caftan to star in Judy, a film about Judy Garland’s final concerts in London.
Deadline reports that the film will focus on the winter of 1968—20 years after Garland’s star turn in The Wizard of Oz—as Garland prepares to embark upon a string of shows at London’s The Talk of the Town nightclub. These shows ended up being her last cabaret performances and were, by most accounts, kind of a disaster. Garland is in the midst of wooing her soon-to-be-fifth husband, Mickey Deans, and “ is exhausted; haunted by memories of a childhood lost to Hollywood and gripped by a desire to be back home with her kids.”
Is it rude to cast Zellweger as Judy Garland mere moths before she died? Am I rude for thinking immediately that Liza Minnelli should play Garland, even though there’d be something sort of off about that, too? Will Zellweger capture the tragedy and the comedy of Garland, pills and booze and personal demons and all? Only time will tell.
Judy will also give Zellweger the chance to sing and dance on film again. The film will feature some of Garland’s best known and most loved songs, sung by Zellweger. Viewers were last treated to the musical stylings of Renée in 2002’s Chicago; upon revisiting one of Zellweger’s performance from that iconic film, I’m wondering if she will do late ‘60s Judy Garland’s gravel-voice justice.
