Movie about Connie Francis

Editor's Note: Latest news is this movie project has been cancelled.

From the Internet

Estefan was cast to star as Connie Francis, a U.S. pop singer of the 1950s and early 1960s, in Who's Sorry Now?, based on Francis' life. Filming supposedly began in late 2008, according to Parade Magazine (March 23, 2008). Estefan, in an interview with www.allheadlinenews.com, stated the film would be released in 2009, but nothing happened yet and the production remains unofficial.

As of December 2009 the film has been dropped as Connie Francis had irreconcilable differences with Estefan over the film's writer. Francis wanted to hire writer Robert L. Freedman, who had written the Emmy Award winning mini-series Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. Estefan refused to consider him, which according to Francis ended the project collaboration. [26]

In a 2009 interview, singer Connie Francis revealed that she had contacted Freedman to write her life story after being impressed with his work writing "Life with Judy Garland." Freedman was said to have been delighted at the prospect but ultimately wasn't hired as writer as Francis' co-producer, singer Gloria Estefan, was interested in other writers for the project. [1]

This was dated June 10:

Production Credits
Screenplay - Craig Bolotin
Producer - Gloria Estefan
Producer - Diane Nabatoff

Full Production Credits for Untitled (Connie Francis Project), 2010 Baseline StudioSystems, 2010 All Media Guide, LLC

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/449596/Untitled-Connie-Francis-Project-/details

Here's a very nice clip of the above mentioned event, in which Gloria dedicated the song to Miss Francis herself sitting among the audience (You can see her for some seconds - just enough to recognize her).

Gloria Estefan has been working on a film about Connie Francis. Gloria is planning to portray Connie and there is talk of Danny De Vito will be Connie’s Dad, Olympia Dukakis as her mom. Screenplay is fairly completed, filming is reported to begin soon though this has been mentioned for past couple years.

The following are various comments collected on the Internet:

At MGM, The New Theater Is More Than Grand
May, 2008
from http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=a2699718-90eb-4b84-a455-43b5b37b0b13

"She more than held her own, with languid ease, with Connie Francis' original version of "Where the Boys Are." There was a reason Estefan dipped into the Francis song book. She is hoping to star in a movie version of Francis' life story, based on a screenplay Estefan is writing."

Estefan opens MGM Grand's new theater
May, 2008
from http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=0124c4f5-5d7e-43a5-9383-0b438a80f4b7

"And so, at age 50, she has. She's written her third children's book. She just finished a screenplay with singer Connie Francis about Francis' life - and Estefan would play Francis in the movie, which they hope will start filming later this year."

From Songstress to Scribe
November 24, 2006
By ADRIAN SAINZ, The Associated Press
from http://www.pe.com/entertainment/stories/PE_Fea_Daily_D_music.gloriaestefan.263f43c.html

She hasn't recorded an album since 2003's "Unwrapped," but she is staying busy. She is working on another all-Spanish-language CD and a screenplay about singer Connie Francis, of which she plans to star in the leading role.

Estefan Detailed Biography, April 2006:
from http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/estefan/index.shtml

She is slated to star as Connie Francis, a U.S. pop singer whose peak commercial success was in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in "Who's Sorry Now?" based on Ms. Francis' life. Filming is scheduled to begin in 2006, Estefan announced at a news conference in Mexico City.

from Guy Consterdine
As we expected, the title of the movie is to be Who's Sorry Now. It was almost inevitable. This item says filming will start this year, unlike a note a week or two ago which said not till 2007. At least it implies that Gloria believes she's got someone prepared to back the film financially and someone who's ready to direct and produce it.

World Entertainment News Network in 2002:

"GLORIA TO PLAY CONNIE: GLORIA ESTEFAN is teaming up with her heroine CONNIE FRANCIS to bring the 1950s and 1960s singing star's life story to the big screen. Latino star Estefan plans to write and star in a biopic about the WHO'S SORRY NOW singer, and she has Francis' blessing."