Clint Eastwood has made some truly memorable movies in his career as a filmmaker, and he almost directed a remake of a classic drama movie, just a couple of years before it became an Oscar-winning movie… without him. Clint Eastwood is one of the most respected actors and directors in film history, and as both actor and filmmaker, he has explored a variety of genres. As an actor, Clint Eastwood is best known for starring in Westerns, particularly Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, becoming a cultural icon. In 1971, Eastwood branched out to directing with his directorial debut Play Misty for Me, which marked the beginning of a successful career as a director.
Since then, Eastwood has continued both his acting and directing career, even bringing them together, to the point where he started to only act in movies that he directs. Of course, there have been projects that Eastwood come close to making and ultimately didn’t, and among them is the remake of a classic drama movie. The project was ultimately made but without Eastwood’s involvement, and it became a huge critical and commercial success, earning nominations to different awards, including the Oscars: A Star is Born, which ended up being directed and led by Bradley Cooper.
Clint Eastwood Was Attached To Direct A Star Is Born Remake In 2011
A Star is Born is a 1937 drama movie directed by William A. Wellman and starring Janet Gaynor as farm girl and aspiring Hollywood actress Esther Victoria Blodgett, and Fredric March as actor Norman Maine. A Star is Born was a critical and commercial success, and its legacy has been such that it has been remade four times. The first one was a TV adaptation in 1951 starring Kathleen Crowley and Conrad Nagel, and the second one arrived in 1954, as a big-screen adaptation starring Judy Garland and James Mason. A Star is Born was remade again in 1976, now with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and before Bradley Cooper’s version was released, various other attempts were made to make another version of the story.
In the late 1990s, a remake of A Star is Born was in development, with Will Smith intending to play the lead character, and later in 2000, Jamie Foxx and Oliver Stone were rumored to be interested in a remake. Plans to remake A Star is Born were shelved for years until 2011 when Clint Eastwood was announced to be in talks to direct a third American remake. The plan back then was for Beyoncé and Bradley Cooper to star in it, and later, it was revealed that Eastwood wanted jazz musician Esperanza Spaulding to star in the project (via Variety).
Bradley Cooper Rejected Eastwood’s A Star Is Born Before Changing His Mind 5 Years Later
Bradley Cooper was attached to A Star is Born since Clint Eastwood’s involvement in 2011, but that doesn’t mean he was fully on board with the idea. Speaking to EW in 2019, prior to the 91st Academy Awards, Cooper spoke about his involvement in A Star is Born, sharing that he initially turned down starring in it when Eastwood was attached as director. Cooper explained he felt he was “too young” and thus didn’t have enough experience to play the character. Cooper shared that he felt he grew up enough between the initial offer and the one he finally accepted five years later, and so he ended up directing A Star is Born and starring in it alongside Lady Gaga.
Why Clint Eastwood’s A Star Is Born Never Happened
Although a remake of A Star Is Born directed by Clint Eastwood sounds intriguing, the project was met with a couple of obstacles that, ultimately, prevented it from happening. Beyoncé’s pregnancy led to a delay in the project, but it continued its development, with writer Will Fetters even saying in 2012 that the script was inspired by Kurt Cobain (via Collider). Various names emerged as potential leads now that Cooper wasn’t interested in starring in it, among them Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Cruise, with Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, and Janelle Monáe as potential female leads. According to producer Bill Gerber (via THR), Clint Eastwood’s A Star is Born never happened due to Beyoncé’s pregnancy and Eastwood working on another movie.
In the end, Clint Eastwood wasn’t left without projects scheduled for a 2018 release, as he directed the biographical drama The 15:17 to Paris and the crime drama The Mule, starring in the latter as well. As for A Star is Born, the project found the talent it needed when Bradley Cooper returned and took over the director’s chair, and along with Lady Gaga’s performance, turned it into an Oscar-winning movie.