Out of all the sitcoms that have aired on television, I Love Lucy has always been and will always be one of if not the most influential. It’s easy to see why Aaron Sorkin, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter behind The Social Network, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Moneyball, would be interested in tapping into the inner works of the beloved television classic and the lives of its two stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
Sorkin has been attached to the project since 2015 with two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett originally tapped to play the iconic comedienne/actress. After years in development hell and casting changes, Being The Ricardos is finally almost here.
Here’s The Trailer For Being The Ricardos
If Being The Ricardos does not already have your interest, here’s the trailer for the film. It gives viewers a glimpse on what exactly they can expect from the highly anticipated drama and the ensuing drama in the personal and public lives of Ball and Arnaz.
What Is Being The Ricardos About?
Being The Ricardos isn’t your traditional biopic or even really about the creation of the beloved sitcom, but instead will be intended as a behind-the-scenes look during a week of the show’s production. During a five-day period in September 1952, when filming the episode “Fred and Ethel Fight”. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz run into several snags over the course of the week: an investigation of Ball by the House of Un-American Activities Committee for ties to communism as well as a scandalous tabloid article centering around Arnaz. Sorkin wanted to depict a different side of the creative couple telling Entertainment Weekly, "The only thing better than a story people don't know is a story that people think they know but they're wrong." After seeing what Sorkin did with high profile figures from the likes of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, it’ll be interesting to see how he handles Ball and Arnaz.
Who Is In Being The Ricardos?
Cate Blanchett was initially attached to play the role of Ball, but the role eventually went to fellow Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman after she left the project. While many have felt that Blanchett may have been a better fit, Kidman’s pedigree shows that this will likely be another homerun performance from her. Kidman has been keeping busy having recently starred in the limited series Nine Perfect Strangers at Hulu, the mystery miniseries The Undoing at HBO, and Ryan Murphy’s star-studded musical The Prom at Netflix. Next year she’ll be popping up in Robert Eggers’ highly anticipated Viking drama The Northman at Focus Features as well as James Wan’s superhero sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom over at Warner Bros.
Academy Award winner Javier Bardem is playing the role of Arnaz, the then real-life husband of Ball who co-starred with her on I Love Lucy. Just earlier this year Bardem had a supporting role in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and recently wrapped shooting Disney’s live-action retelling of The Little Mermaid, in which he plays King Triton. He’s currently shooting the live-action/CGI family comedy Lyle, Lyle Crocodile at Sony alongside Constance Wu.
Making up the supporting cast will be yet another Academy Award winner with J.K. Simmons as William Frawley, who played Fred Mertz on the sitcom and Nina Arianda will be playing Vivian Vance known for playing Ethel Mertz.
As for the rest of the cast, Jake Lacy, who was a scene-stealer earlier this year in HBO’s The White Lotus, will be co-starring as Bob Carroll Jr, a writer for the series. Alia Shawkat, who you may know as Dory Sief in Search Party, will be playing Carroll’s creative partner and co-writer Madelyn Pugh. Tony Hale will play Jess Oppenheimer, the proclaimed brains behind I Love Lucy. Marvel veteran Clark Gregg will also have a role in the film.
When Does Being The Ricardos Release?
Being The Ricardos will be released in select theaters on December 10, 2021 before being available to stream on Prime Video on December 21, 2021. This follows a similar pattern as many other streamers as Amazon did this with both Sound of Metal and One Night In Miami last year. So if you want your chance to see the story of Lucy and Desi on the big chance screen, you’ll be in luck.
If you’re looking for a movie to stream this holiday season alongside films such as Don’t Look Up, The Unforgivable, Swan Song and The Matrix: Resurrections, Being The Ricardos will be awaiting you as well. This is one of Amazon’s bigger Oscar-contenders this year, alongside George Clooney’s The Tender Bar.
When Did Being The Ricardos Film?
Being The Ricardos had quite the quick turnaround, despite being stuck in development hell for several years, one Kidman was cast back in January it was full steam ahead for the film. After additional casting was complete, filming officially commenced in late March of this year and was already in post-production by September.
What Are Critics Saying About Being The Ricardos?
Being The Ricardos has already been screening around town where critics are buzzing about the film. Collider’s own Perri Nemiroff was able to attend a screening of the film and went on to tweet the following.
“#BeingTheRicardos just left me in a puddle of tears. What a beautiful and deeply moving behind the scenes look at the pressures and complexities involved in making that show - highs, lows and everything in between. Nicole Kidman is INCREDIBLE.”
Nemiroff isn’t alone in her high praises. Coy Jandreau tweeted out:
“#BeingTheRicardos I can’t explain how much I love Aaron Sorkin dialogue, it’s what the inside of my head sounds like & feels immediately comfortable but energetic.He’s lost none of that zest here while also growing as a director, I think this is his strongest directing to date.”
Being The Ricardos definitely seems like it will be a potential awards contender and by the sounds of it, Kidman and Sorkin could be frontrunners in their respective categories.
What’s Next For Aaron Sorkin?
As of right now, that’s unknown, but considering how quickly he got to Being The Ricardos after last year’s Oscar-nominated The Trial of the Chicago 7, that definitely could change soon. IMDB lists several projects in development from the writer/director. These include the long in development stage production of A Few Good Men for NBC, he also has the John Edwards biopic The Politician: An Insider’s Account of John Edward’s Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down (that title is certainly a mouthful). There is also the TV miniseries The Castle on Sunset which is centered around the famous Hollywood hotel Chateau Marmont, which he is working on with John Krasinski. There was also Flash Boys, based on the non-fiction novel by Michael Lewis, that was being set up at Netflix, but Lewis has gone on to cast doubt on that project. In the meantime, audiences will still have Being The Ricardos to get their fix of Sorkin’s signature style of dialogue.