We've known for some time that Moulin Rouge! star Nicole Kidman was set to play Grace Kelly in Olivier Dahan's upcoming biopic, Grace of Monaco. But when we'll see the film stateside, nobody knows. The film--which was originally set to premiere in early 2014 was pushed until June in the UK and has no U.S. release date at this time--also stars Tim Roth as a smoking, charming, and perhaps angsty Prince Rainier III and Paz Vega--smoldering as only the Spanish can smolder--as the bewitching opera singer Maria Callas.
Dahan has done well in the genre of character study, his previous biopic, La Vie en Rose, the beautiful, touching, delicate portrait of Edith Piaf, won star Marion Cotillard an Oscar for Best Actress. This fills us with hope and expectation. But as The Hollywood Reporter has noted, there's a reported tiff between Dahan and production company The Weinstein Company, which Dahan says is finished, but Weinstein wants to cut.
The fact that his last film, Les Signeurs, about a soccer team comprised of unemployed fishermen, who, one assumes, triumph over adversity, received only lukewarm reviews fills us with less enthusiasm and more trepidation.
Brushing a lot of other 20th-century history aside, here's the story in a nutshell: Prince Rainier III needed to produce an heir or Monaco would become part of France. So Rainier III went to the U.S. and came back with Hollywood star Grace Kelley for his new wife and heir-producer. France was annoyed, however, at French citizens going to Monaco to avoid income tax, so Charles De Gaulle threatened to cut off all support to Monaco and then invade the principality claiming it for France.
Grace Kelly was around for all this, and hopefully the film is done in such a way that would make Hitchcock--the director who made Kelly a star--proud. I want to see Charles De Gaulle and Clark Gable fighting for Kelly's love. A devious plot to murder Rainier III and cash in on his insurance; it's Double Indemnity--except with a principality. Or perhaps, as all is looking lost for Monaco, James Stewart comes in and works out a treaty despite his lack of experience with medieval oligarchies.
Grace of Monaco has a UK premiere date of June 6. Check out the UK trailer below:
