‘Rachel Getting Married’ Scribe Gets Asked to ‘Prom’

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 16, 2009

The guy in the middle is just way too perfect.

Many of us have been waiting to see what else Jenny Lumet has up her sleeve after writing her first screenplay – the brilliant Rachel Getting Married. Now, we have our answer.

According to Variety, Miramax has asked her to write the script for a project, This Strange Thing Called Prom, based on a news article featuring a group of newly immigrated students holding a senior prom at their high school. I don’t want to oversell it, but as feature articles go, the original piece is actually pretty moving.

Obviously, there’s some questions that go into adapting a news article into a feature length film – but if studios are planning on basing scripts off of board games, there’s crazier things out there.

What strikes me as interesting about the project is that the scope of actors needed will be overwhelmingly non-white. In a world where I get fourteen emails a day from groups clamoring about Hollywood white-washing projects, it will be very cool to see a film like this produced and see what sort of reaction it can get. Clearly, putting a group of diverse people in front of the backdrop of an American tradition also has its ramifications. Possibly, very cool stuff.

It will also be interesting to see if Lumet can go 2-for-2 on getting her scripts to the big Oscar dance.

What do you think? Isn’t that name terrible despite the premise being cool?


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  • phrenetik
    The results would be interesting... this could go into documentary-style ala The Class, but personally I'd like to see a more dramatized version of it. :) Do they need extras? Can I sign up? :P
  • Hey, don't forget THE SOLOIST, which was also based on a L.A Times article, you know.
  • I am also excited for this. This will be written by a WOMAN, with a completely diverse cast. So cool.
  • All well and good except that Rachel Getting Married was a pretty bad movie anchored by a pretty good performance.
  • If she can write the movie as well as Rachel Getting Married and then they get the right cast to play the parts in the movie, this could be something special. I love movies that have different concepts that we wouldn't normally see.
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