Michelle Williams to star in Peggy Lee Biopic ‘Fever’ – Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Peggy Lee’s long biography in development Fever not only seems to have found a new studio to call home, but also a new star to play the legendary singer. Sources told Deadline that MGM is in talks to enter Peggy Lee’s biopic, with Oscar nominee Todd Haynes to direct and four-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams on board to star.

The film will be produced by Marc Platt, Reese Witherspoon and Pamela Koffler & Christine Vachon through their production company Killer Films. Grammy-winning artist Billie Eilish, mother Maggie Baird and record label partner Justin Lubliner are understood to have expressed interest in Fever and are in initial discussions with the filmmakers to come on board as executive producers of the feature film.

Eilish was part of a celebration of Lee’s life and career last May and has always seen Lee as one of his inspirations for his music.

The film was in development at Fox 2000 and almost went into production with Witherspoon as Lee, but after Nora Ephron, who wrote the original draft, passed away in 2012, the film was put on hold. Witherspoon would eventually abandon the project and, after Fox 2000, was closed after the Fox-Disney merger, and the film was archived. In the past few months, the project gained momentum after Williams was drawn to the idea of ​​playing Lee and a package was put together with MGM moving quickly to be in pole position for rights.

Best known for her cover of Little Willie John’s song “Fever”, to which she added her own additional lyrics, Lee was a product of the big band era, a singer, songwriter and songwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades. She died in 2002 at the age of 81, but her legacy lives on as one of the first members of Capitol Records’ “old guard” to embrace the new rock ‘n’ roll sound. She was also a talented actress, winning an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in 1955 for her portrayal of a desperate and alcoholic blues singer in Pete Kelly Blues.

Fever would make a theatrical release in the United States through MGM’s distribution and marketing joint venture, United Artists Releasing. The film would be the second film in the recently announced MGM / Killer Films debut deal; Billy Porter’s What if? via MGM’s Orion Pictures, produced by Killer Films, was announced in late 2020. Fever marks the third time that Williams and Haynes have joined together having previously I’m not here and Wonderstruck.

Williams, represented by the WME, is expected to rejoin director Kelly Reichardt in the film Appear. The project marks the fourth collaboration with Reichardt after Wendy & Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff and Certain women. Williams was most recently seen in After the wedding and also finished filming the Sony sequence Venom: Let There Be Carnage. She also recently starred in Fosse / Verdon which earned him an Emmy for his role as Gwen Verdon.

Haynes is represented by CAA and attorney John Sloss.