Kristen Bell Plans a Burlesque Beat-Down of Christina Aguilera

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 9, 2009

Look out Christina Aguilera, soon to be actor who we didn’t know had any acting chops, you’re about to run into all of 5′1″ 90 lb. (soaking wet) Kristen Bell.

That’s the premise of the new Steve Antin-directed drama Burlesque. Aguilera will star as an ambitious small-town girl with a big-town voice who finds love and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club. Allegedly it will all have a feel similar to the nightclub in Bob Fosse’s Cabaret. It will just include a pop star and that Veronica Mars girl.

Bell will play Nikki, the loose-cannon lead dancer and main attraction at the club who spirals out of control when Aguilera’s character suddenly gets the spotlight.

I can’t knock Kristen Bell, as she a mostly underrated talent. Her all-too short stint on Heroes was disappointing and she was very flat in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It will be nice to see her move into something as challenging as (a) a seemingly evil character, (b) a musical role and (c) something in which she’s the headliner.

As for Aguilera, this is her first foray into the world of feature films. She can sing and she can dance, but her acting skills are yet to be seen. And starting with the “small-town girl just trying to make it big” story isn’t exactly getting off on the right foot. Look at what happened to Britney Spears with Crossroads…

I guess we’ll see how it goes. Steve Antin is a music video director making his feature debut — that also doesn’t bode well. Wait a minute… this actually sounds terrible. Why are we still talking about it?

Shooting begins on November 9th, with a release date set for November 24, 2010.

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