From BILL & TED to Beckett: Keanu Reeves to Make Broadway Debut
Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Today, a trio of page-to-screen (or stage) stories.
Strange Things Are Afoot at the Great White Way
Keanu Reeves’s campaign for Most Interesting Man in the World rolls on with the news that he will make his Broadway debut in a production of Waiting for Godot next fall. And that’s not even the best part. Alex Winter, who played the Bill to Reeve’s Ted in 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (we don’t talk about the sequels), will co-star. Yes, way! Reeves and Winter aren’t the first longtime friends to star in Beckett’s beloved work; the last time the show went up, for a run in 2013-2014, lifelong pals Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart were at the top of the playbill. A legacy of Broadway bromances? Party on, dudes.
It’s Britney, B*tch
Britney Spears is getting a biopic. Jon M. Chu, who directed the adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians and the forthcoming Wicked, will develop and direct a film based on Spears’s 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, and friends, I could not be more excited. If this is good—and there’s a high probability that it will be given Chu’s credentials—it will be great. It’s got a breakout role for a young actress, an opportunity to impersonate Justin Timberlake saying “fo shiz” to Ginuwine (though it will be hard to top Michelle Williams’s take), and a powerful taking-back-the-narrative redemption arc rivaled only by Monica Lewinsky. The Woman in Me is a good book by any standard, not just as celebrity memoirs go, and Britney’s is an important story. May their efforts succeed. Hit me with your casting ideas in the comments.
Stream On
If your plan for coping with the dog days of summer is to become one with your couch, you’re in luck. There are tons of literary adaptations hitting streamers in August, including The Bikeriders (were you also surprised to learn this was based on a book?) and the second season of Pachinko, which is right at the tippy-top of my queue. If old-school is more our flavor, you’ve got options, too. ’90s adaptations of Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson) and Emma (Gwyneth Paltrow) are also streaming, as is Reese Witherspoon’s turn as the feverishly ambitious Tracy Flick in Election.
TIME Names the 50 Best Romances to Read Now
With the help of industry experts, TIME has compiled a list of the 50 best romances to read right now, and it’s actually good. There are classics, contemporary meet-cutes, romantasies, and more, and yes, they do all have the necessary HEA.
The comments section is moderated according to our community guidelines. Please check them out so we can maintain a safe and supportive community of readers!
Leave a comment
Join All Access to add comments.