Oscar-winning actress/screenwriter Emma Thompson has signed on to re-work the classic Annie script for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s new musical.
Glee creator Ryan Murphy let the big news slip while explaining why he is no longer attached to the project, which will star Will Smith’s daughter Willow as Little Orphan Annie.
According to Murphy, “They are doing a movie version and I loved the idea that Jay Z is going to do the music. I met with Jay and talked to him about it. I wanted to write the script and direct it. And then (Murphy’s new TV project) ‘American Horror’ got picked up and Willow is a certain age and you need a script by November. I didn’t think I could do it.”
“So now she’s (Jada Pinkett Smith) got Emma Thompson, who is 50 million times better than me. Love her. I wish I could have had the time to do it. The thing that was the biggest turn on for me was Jay. We talked about how we were going to set it (Annie) in Detroit.”
Actress Emma Thompson has frequently won acclaim for her scriptwriting skills, and she won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “Sense & Sensibility”.
