Chris Evans to step into Gene Kelly’s dancing shoes for upcoming film
The project is based on Evans’ own original idea, about a 12-year-old who develops an imaginary friendship with the Singin’ In The Rain star
Film News Chris Evans
Chris Evans, as we know, can do anything: Save the world. Confound us all in a twisty whodunit. Make the most of a two-second cameo. But… can Chris Evans dance? Most importantly, can he dance in the strenuous athletic style of one of the greatest artists ever to grace the silver screen?
The world may soon find out. Deadline announced this week that Evans himself came up with an idea for an upcoming film project, in which a 12-year-old on the MGM studio lot in 1952 develops an imaginary friendship with the great Gene Kelly. In the year the film is set, Kelly would have been still coasting off of the greatness of On The Town and An American In Paris while preparing for the release of the iconic Singin’ In The Rain, so we should hope that there would be at least a few dance numbers in there.
Deadline says that Evans will also produce the project along with Mark Kassen, Rian Johnson’s and Ram Bergman’s T-Street Productions, and Academy Award nominee John Logan (The Aviator, Spectre, Skyfall), who also will write the script.
Even though the only Chris Evans dance number that comes to mind is that promotional tour that Captain America did back in WWII, rumors of Evans tap dancing have hovered around the talk-show circuit for a while. Apparently he took lessons as a kid, and has mentioned Kelly before (which makes sense; he definitely seems more like a Gene Kelly guy than a Fred Astaire guy). He even unveiled some not-bad soft shoe on Ellen. Can he also pull off a heartfelt dance number with an umbrella, swinging around a lamppost while getting drenched with buckets of water? We shall see (hopefully).
38 Comments
So JoJo Rabbit, but with dancing?
The Rhineland’s a fine land once more!
And fewer public executions!Fewer, not none.
First that Spider-man kid and now this. I kinda hope everyone’s post MCU career involves playing a famous mid century dancing actor
If we expand it to oldie movie stars in general, I think RDJ would be perfect for Charlie Chaplin.
Can he play Der Fooey?
And here I was thinking he’d make a great Bojangles.
Eh, maybe if he were a bit younger.
Is this tongue-in-cheek or no? Can’t tell on the internet.
“Vin Diesel IS Fred Astaire!I know. He wore us down. Just go with it.”
candyass
“Listen Ginger, the key to my success is FAMILY!”“I AM FRED”
Scarlett Johansson will have to settle for a role in one of those Shen Yun shows.
She can play a tree.
I was hoping for a Xanadu remake, but okay.
I don’t anyone has ever loved anyone as much as my 10-year-old self loved Olivia Newton-John after that movie.
Anyone who watched So You Think You Can Dance knows that Gene Kelly should be played by Evan Kasprzak.
He may step into his shoes, but nobody can fill them. What an insanely talented man he was.
Well that avoids a problematic biopic… Kelly was a notorious A-hole. The stories of how he treated Debbie Reynolds while filming Singing in the Rain are legendary.
I imagine that might play a part in the story. The kid thinks Kelly is this great guy, but then he meets the real Kelly and has his heart broken.
Debbie stated that Gene would purposely kick in her in the shins while rehearsing. She had class and “forgave” him later. https://www.ranker.com/list/dark-hollywood-history-of-gene-kelly/quinn-armstrongEsther Williams Said Working With Him Was ‘Pure Misery’He French Kissed Debbie Reynolds Without Her PermissionHis Co-Director Didn’t Have Anything Nice To Say About HimHe Married A 17-Year-Old Girl When He Was 29
I think that’s overblown. Wanting your co-star to execute the dance routines properly and getting frustrated when they cannot isn’t unforgivable, as proven by Debbie Reynolds speaking kindly of him beyond the tension of shooting the dance sequences.Perfectionism is different from the cavalcade of assholes in old Hollywood. He wasn’t a casting coach creeper – he just wanted her to be able to dance, and when she was cast, she couldn’t. Hand holding and patience is nice and all, but it’s not the only way to get a performance.
I’ve only heard of the Debbie Reynolds behavior which Kelly had acknowledged and apologized for. Are there more stories about him that I’ve missed?
Can he dance like an angel? Otherwise, why bother?
I heard that Evans was quite hard to match up with stunt performers in the Cap movies precisely because he has a particular dancer’s gait that was hard to emulate.
Please ‘splain “dancer’s gait.” Prof. Google is feeding me kinematic papers that I can’t quite grok. Moving with feet turned out and straight back?Also, the mental image of Chris Evan in a dance belt is in my head, and now – I hope – in yours.
He’s a prancing ninny?
That is America’s Ass!! You shut up!!
I dunno. I want to see a demo video of him dancing with Donald Duck just to be sure.
Jerry Mouse. In Anchors Away.
I don’t doubt that Evans will be able to pull off the dancing but the bigger question is who they will get to play Donald O’Connor.
Joseph Gordon Levitt, obvs. Even has Rian Johnson ties.
So it’s ‘Jojo Rabbit’ but with Gene Kelly instead of Hitler?
Play It Again, Sam.
Chris Evans to step into Gene Simmons’s monster platform shoes for upcoming party
I am here to officially ship Chris Evans and Henry Cavill. Can you imagine the Good Guy energy those two could manifest combined together?
I’d have gone with Channing Tatum. He looks more like Kelly, he can dance. Coen brothers saw it.