Playbill is reporting that Barbra Streisand’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ Tony Award-winning musical Gypsy may actually become realized. Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes was hired by Universal to write the screenplay — which was no small (or inexpensive) feat, considering how bright his star is shining thanks to the period drama’s success. Producers Joel Silver and Streisand should be feeling hopeful about the project with Fellowes on-board, especially after last year’s concerns about Sondheim and Laurents signing off on another film version of the popular production.
There’s no director confirmed at this time (The King’s Speech filmmaker Tom Hooper was previously in talks before things got shaky), and no word on whether or not Babs will be starring in the musical movie about burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee and her pushy stage mother, Rose. We hope Streisand can erase her part in Little Fockers from our brains by joining the cast — she’s certainly got the lungs to do it. Check out the trailer for the 1962 film past the break, which starred Rosalind Russell as mamma and Natalie Wood as Gypsy.