'Maestro': Why Netflix's Scott Stuber greenlit Bradley Cooper's first Original?
What's the story
Bradley Cooper, who impressed all with his performances in Licorice Pizza, and Nightmare Alley, recently, is gearing up for his second directorial. Titled Maestro, it will be hitting Netflix sometime next year, his first Netflix Original. In an interview, Scott Stuber, head of original films at the streaming giant, says why he at all agreed to back this ambitious film in the first place.
Context
Why does it matter?
Cooper's directorial debut, A Star Is Born, was a sensation. The Lady Gaga-starrer, a 2018 release, got 8 nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, but won only one for Best Original Song (Shallow). Nonetheless, it emerged as a commercial success as well. And now that Cooper has chosen another musical for his second helmed project, we can expect another magic from him, nothing less.
Details
'We sat down for about two and a half hours'
Talking about how the Serena actor pitched the idea, Stuber told Variety, "About 18 months ago, [Bradley] called and said, 'Can we have breakfast?' We sat down for about two and a half hours and talked about it." "Then I read it, and we met again and we went through all the notes. You could see how much he was into it," he noted.
Information
The film has Cooper playing the legendary composer Leonard Bernstein
The film has Cooper playing the legendary composer Leonard Bernstein, and Carey Mulligan his character's wife, actress Felicia Montealegre. About Mulligan, Stuber said, "Mulligan is an incredible actress. We've seen her do such great work." He added that given the topic of the film, it was "a lot of work on the makeup. We've done a lot of work on the voice."
Fact
Principal photography has begun, release time still unclear
Reports say the principal photography on the biopic started in October this year, so don't expect Maestro to come before 2022 end. We might just have it as an October outing, like Cooper's first directorial. Meanwhile, apart from that, the actor also launched his production house early last month. Hyperion, based on a four-part novel by Dan Simmons, will be the first project.