Beyonce lands Clint Eastwood as ‘A Star Is Born’ director

LOS ANGELES — Beyonce Knowles just got a major break in her longtime bid for an Oscar: Clint Eastwood has signed on to direct her in the Warner Bros. update of “A Star Is Born.”

Eastwood’s announcement Thursday more than
solidifies the film, which has seen several incarnations over the past
year (or years) with various directors and male talent attached (Beyonce has long been the female lead in mind).

Last February a short list of names including Russell Crowe, Sean Penn and Robert Downey Jr. were circulating to play opposite the pop sensation, as an alcoholic superstar in love with Knowles’ budding singer.

A current short list includes varied types like Will Smith, Eddie Murphy and Jon Hamm, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson brought the tale to life in 1976, earning permanent spots in pop
culture for their efforts. Streisand won a Golden Globe for her acting
performance and best original song but saw Oscar love only in the
original song category.

Knowles, wife of rap mogul Jay-Z, has always been
open about her Academy Award aspirations. In 2009, she told Self
magazine that the thought of snatching that trophy motivated everything
down to her fitness.

Referring to a painting of the Oscar that hangs
above her treadmill, she said, “I look at it, and I’m like ‘OK, I have
to stay in shape.'”

It was 2006’s “Dreamgirls” that gave Knowles her
best critically received performance, yet her awards campaign stalled
in the presence of Jennifer Hudson’s breakout effort in the same film (Hudson won the Oscar for supporting actress).

But now Beyonce has another chance
at bat — and under the direction of Eastwood, she could transcend her
previous high-camp fare (“Obsessed”) and pop-culture cakewalks (“Austin Powers in Goldmember”). Eastwood won directing Oscars for “Million Dollar
Baby” and “Unforgiven” and was nominated in that category for “Mystic River” and “Letters From Iwo Jima.”

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