It’s looking like Barbra Streisand’s long-awaited screen version of the musical “Gypsy” has found a home. A deal is being finalized at STX Entertainment.
Streisand will star as iconic stage mother Mama Rose, who pressures her two daughters to become vaudeville stars. The Oscar- and Grammy-winning legend will produce and contribute to the script. The 1959 musical was based on the memoir of burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee. Mama Rose was previously portrayed by Rosalind Russell in a 1962 film and by Bette Midler in a 1993 TV adaptation.
The project’s original home was at Universal, but went into turnaround following a lengthy development period.
Streisand directed the critical and commercially successful musical “Yentl” back in 1983. We wish she was helming “Gypsy,” but that job will be filled by Academy Award-winner Barry Levinson (“Rain Man”).
Streisand last appeared onscreen in the 2012 mother-son comedy “The Guilt Trip” alongside Seth Rogen.
[via The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline]
