Beyoncé Knowles has quit Clint Eastwood's forthcoming remake of A Star is Born for the second time, leaving the long-gestating project in turmoil, Variety reports.
The singer and actor is believed to have walked away due to delays in announcing a start date for the film, a musical take on the popular story previously made three times by Hollywood. A Star is Born still does not have a male lead, despite a three year search during which Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Will Smith, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr, Eminem, Christian Bale, Jon Hamm and Bradley Cooper have all reportedly come under consideration.
Knowles has left the project over delays before, but came back on board when Eastwood was announced as director in January last year. The veteran film-maker proposes to mimic the direction of the 1976 version of A Star Is Born, which cast Barbra Streisand alongside Kris Kristofferson and moved the story from the film industry to the music business.
The original 1937 version of the film starred Fredric March and Janet Gaynor as an ageing Hollywood actor and the bright young thing he takes under his wing. The film was remade in 1954 with James Mason and Judy Garland. While Hollywood has procrastinated about returning A Star Is Born to the big screen, the French film The Artist, which adopts a similar storyline, recently became the first silent movie in more than 80 years to win an Oscar.
Eastwood is now said to be interested in casting jazz musician Esperanza Spalding as his new female lead, but Variety's report suggests studio Warner Bros is determined to lock down a male lead before that happens. Cooper is the most recent actor to be linked to the role and there is still a possibility The Hangover star could be cast.
