NEW YORK — Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Dina Merrill-Hartley, Bruce Greenwood, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Gretchen Mol and Jennifer Tilly are set to star for director Alfonso Arau in “The Magnificent Ambersons,” a four-hour miniseries remake of the 1942 Orson Welles film.
“Ambersons,” which will be broadcast in the U.S. by A&E next year, is a co-production among A&E, the DeAngelis Group, RKO Pictures and Victory Media Group.
Pic begins shooting this week in Ireland.
RKO cut 40 minutes from Welles’ original film, his follow-up to “Citizen Kane,” after it tested poorly before an audience of teenagers. The footage was burned so Welles couldn’t restore it. Mini, which is expected to clock in at 131 minutes, is using Welles’ original script and will feature the excised scenes.
Story follows a family whose members arrogantly refuse to embrace the social changes going on around them, especially the advent of the automobile, and lose their fortune in the process.
The film’s being produced by Gene Kirkwood, Norman Stephens and Jonas Bauer, with John G. Phelan co-producing; Delia Fine, Guido DeAngelis and RKO Pictures chairman Ted Hartley are exec producing.
