English stage and screen star Daisy Edgar-Jones will bring the story and music of Carole King to the screen in an upcoming movie musical adaptation of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, according to a report in Variety. The Sony Pictures film has been in the works since at least 2015, a little over a year after the musical premiered on Broadway.
Edgar-Jones is best known for starring in TV's Cold Feet, War of the Worlds, Normal People, and Under the Banner of Heaven, along with the film Where the Crawdads Sing. She's also no stranger to the U.K. stage, having appeared in Yard Theatre's The Reluctant Fundamentalist in 2017 and Albion at Almeida Theatre in 2020.
"Daisy has a spirit and energy that I recognized as myself when I was younger," King told Variety. "She’s a tremendous talent and I know she’s going to give a great performance."
The musical, which earned a 2014 Best Musical Tony Award nomination, tells the story of King to a soundtrack of her biggest hits, including "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "I Feel the Earth Move," "One Fine Day," and others. King began her career writing hits for such artists as Little Eva and Aretha Franklin before embarking on her own career as a singer-songwriter. Her sophomore solo album, 1971's Tapestry, still holds the record for enjoying the most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist.
Jessie Mueller won a Tony Award playing King in the musical's original Broadway production, which opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre January 12, 2014. The production would run for nearly five years and more than 2,000 performances before closing in 2019. Two national tours played North America during 2015–2020, and the musical's third U.K. tour finished its run earlier this year.
Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) will direct, and has reportedly penned a screenplay with her The Kids Are All Right co-writer Stuart Blumberg. Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are producing for Playtone, along with Paul Blake, who brought the work to Broadway. Sherry Kondor, Christine Russell, Steven Shareshian, and Mike Bosner are serving as executive producers.
