It’s been two years since Prince passed away, and it makes sense that filmmakers would want to explore his legacy as an artist and as a masterful entertainer as a way of paying homage to him. Thankfully, we’ve managed to avoid a biopic of the legend so far, but a new project, as reported by Deadline, produced by the writers behind The Disaster Artist, looks to pay tribute to the artist by highlighting a little-known story of someone who was changed by his appearance in her life. That project is titled Queen for a Day, based on this Daily Beast article by Chris Lee, and Elizabeth Banks is going to star in it.
Well, what’s it all about? Here’s the story, as summarized in the Deadline article:
“The studio staged Win A Date With Prince, an MTV contest in which the 10,000th caller won a date with the rock star. Actually, more than a date: The studio would stage a premiere of Prince’s film [Under the Cherry Moon] in the winner’s hometown, followed by a concert toplined by Prince and The Revolution. The winner was Lisa Barber, a young lady in Sheridan, Wyoming who cleaned hotels and was a big Mötley Crüe fan. The movie is inspired by an article about the Cinderella story date, but the movie will be about how the event changed the lives of two very different women — the Manhattan PR exec responsible for the event’s success and the shy, awkward contest winner from Wyoming, whose town becomes the unexpected nexus of all things Prince for one unforgettable night.”
That sounds pretty great, actually, like an I Want to Hold Your Hand for the ’80s-obsessed. There’s only one real pitfall to be had here — whether or not they’re going to cast some poor schmuck as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince — and it looks like they’ve taken care of that well enough:
“Prince himself will not be played by an actor though his presence will hover through the film. The movie will focus on the herculean effort that went into organizing an event that brought the 5’3″ purple-clad rock icon to a small cowboy town and established his date as a reluctant media sensation. As the article implied ‘behind the scenes, coke-fueled chaos reigned.'”
So, yeah, this project seems pretty cool, and we can’t wait to hear more about it in the future. Banks has a whole hell of a lot of projects on her plate at the moment — including directing and starring in a new take on Charlie’s Angels — but we really hope she finds the time to see this one to fruition. No word on a potential release date just yet, but we’ll keep you updated on any news as it breaks.
Featured image from ‘Purple Rain’ via Warner Bros via MoviestillsDB.