ANNIE Reboot to Begin Filming in NYC This August; New Character Revealed

According to a casting notice for Columbia Pictures' upcoming reboot of ANNIE, production on the film will begin in August on location in New York City. Among the roles to be cast will be that of 11-year-old 'Isabella', described as "A cute, girly foster kid. Her dreams of a better life involve a no-limit credit card and shopping sprees galore." The notice also seeks to cast 'Annie' regulars Pepper and Tessie.

The movie, described as a "contempory" version of the musical, will be produced by James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Will Smith through their Overbrook Entertainment company, and by Shawn "Jay Z" Carter, Jay Brown, and Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith through Marcy Media.

In addition to helming the film, Will Gluck will also revise the screenplay originally penned by Emma Thompson and rewritten by Aline Brosh McKenna. It was based on the musical and its book written by Thomas Meehan, with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin. That project was based on the original Little Orphan Annie comic strip.

The Tony Award-winning stage musical ANNIE has previously been filmed twice, the first time in 1982 with John Huston in the director's chair and later in a made-for-TV adaptation produced by Disney and helmed by CHICAGO director Rob Marshall in 1999.

ANNIE is currently playing on Broadway in a James Lapine-directed revival starring Lilla Crawford, Katie Finneran and Anthony Warlow.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus