Golden Globe nominated actress Elle Fanning has joined the cast of Barry Levinson’s film about the making of Paramount’s classic film, The Godfather.
Fanning will play actress Ali MacGraw, who was married to Paramount’s head of production Robert Evans.
Just after winning the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer, MacGraw starred in Paramount’s blockbuster hit Love Story, for which she was nominated for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress. She would later meet Steve McQueen on the set of The Getaway and the two would fall in love and eventually marry. Deadline’s Peter Bart was the VP of Production during the Evans’ regime at Paramount when The Godfather was being made.
The feature is based on The Blacklist screenplay by Andrew Farotte that has been re-developed with Levinson, who will direct. Fanning joins previously announced actors Oscar Isaac (Francis Coppola), Jake Gyllenhaal (Bob Evans) and Elisabeth Moss (Eleanor Coppola). Production begins this autumn.
“Elle is one of the most exciting and versatile actresses out there,” said Levinson in a statement. “I am beyond thrilled that she has joined the terrific cast of “Francis & The Godfather” and will bring her unique talent to the film.”
This year Elle was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in The Great. She is currently in production on season 2 of the Hulu/MRC series in which she also serves as EP. She recently starred in Sally Potter’s The Roads Not Taken and Netflix’s All The Bright Places, the latter of which she also produced. She will next star in and executive produce the limited series The Girl from Plainville for Hulu.
She is also set to star with her sister Dakota Fanning for the first time in the feature film adaptation of The Nightingale for Tristar and director Melanie Laurent. She is repped by Echo Lake Entertainment, UTA and attorney Steve Warren.
Endeavor Content is handling worldwide sales for the Levinson movie.
The Godfather went on to win 3 Academy Awards and became a huge box office success.
Echo Lake Entertainment’s Mike Marcus, Doug Mankoff and Andrew Spaulding are producing along with Kevin Turen, Jon Levin and Baltimore Pictures’ Jason Sosnoff.
Source: Deadline
