The makers of “Being the Ricardos,” the biopic about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, are playing it coy.
A teaser for the Amazon Studios movie released Tuesday (watch it below) goes to great lengths to avoid fully lit or straight-on shots of Nicole Kidman, controversially cast (at least in Debra Messing’s eyes) as the legendary TV funnywoman.
But it is a teaser, after all, and it definitely piqued our curiosity.
In a voiceover, Kidman’s Ball sums up the height of her fame on “I Love Lucy” (1951-1957), saying she’s the “biggest asset” for the portfolios of CBS and its advertisers.
“I get paid a fortune doing exactly what I love doing ... and all I have to do to keep it is kill for 36 weeks in a row and then do it again the next year,” she says, adding that she only did the comedy to be with her husband. “I had no idea it was gonna be a hit.”
Javier Bardem also appears in the preview as Arnaz — but, as then, it’s Lucy’s show.
The only full look we get of Kidman transformed is a black and white redux of Lucy’s famous grape stomping scene. And it’s brief.
The movie, however, focuses more on the real-life couple offscreen. The two face predicaments in a week of shooting the classic sitcom that threaten their careers and marriage, director Aaron Sorkin has said.
The film already has a seal of approval from their daughter, Lucie Arnaz. She called the movie “frickin’ amazing” on Instagram last week.
See what the fuss is all about right here:
The movie opens in theaters Dec. 10 and streams on Amazon Prime beginning Dec. 21.
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