Last Christmas, a “holiday romance set in London” co-scripted by Emma Thompson and Bryony Kimmings and recently acquired by Hollywood studio Universal, was inspired by the 1984 Wham! hit written by George Michael. The script was developed with Michael’s participation until his death in 2016.
In an interview with Radio Times, Kimmings said: “When I came on board, George was up for it. He’d already signed something to say yes, but he’d passed away.”
Saying that the idea had been developed by Michael, Thompson and Thompson’s husband, the actor Greg Wise, Kimmings said she had already turned in her draft of the script and included the kind of “queer politics” Michael was interested in. “I tried to slip in some trans people and make sure there was queer politics in there … I don’t know how much of that remains!”
She added: “I doubt there’ll be a trans lead … But I hope that there’s quite an element of queer in there, because you know it’s the story – it’s based on the song, Last Christmas. George was such a massive advocate for gay rights – and a massive gay himself! – so I hope there’s a gay narrative in there.”
Last Christmas is due to be directed by Bridesmaids’ Paul Feig, who is currently completing work on A Simple Favor, a mystery thriller about a blogger whose best friend disappears.
