Florence Foster Jenkins

Florence Foster Jenkins Information

Florence Foster Jenkins is a 2016 British-French biographical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Nicholas Martin. The film stars Meryl Streep as Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who became an opera singer known for her painful lack of singing skill. Other cast members include Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg, Nina Arianda and Rebecca Ferguson.

Filming began in May 2015, and the premiere was held in London on 12 April 2016. The film was released on 6 May 2016 in the United Kingdom and 13 July in France, and is scheduled to be released in the United States on 12 August 2016.

Plot synopsis

Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep), an heiress in New York who owns a music club and lives for music, aspires to become an opera singer with the help of her husband St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) and her pianist Cosm McMoon (Simon Helberg), despite her generally poor singing ability.

Cast

Meryl Streep as Florence Foster Jenkins
Hugh Grant as St. Clair Bayfield
Simon Helberg as Cosm McMoon
Rebecca Ferguson as Kathleen Weatherley, Bayfield's mistress
Nina Arianda as Agnes Stark
John Kavanagh as Arturo Toscanini
David Haig as Carlo Edwards
Brid Brennan as Kitty
Stanley Townsend as Phineas Stark
Allan Corduner as John Totten
Christian McKay as Earl Wilson
John Sessions as Dr. Hermann

Production

Development

On 21 October 2014, Variety reported that Stephen Frears would next direct a biopic Florence, scripted by Nicholas Martin, about Florence Foster Jenkins, a famous opera singer. Meryl Streep was set to play Jenkins while Hugh Grant was set to play stage actor St. Clair Bayfield, Jenkins' partner and manager. Michael Kuhn and Tracey Seaward would produce the film, which Path would finance and handle the sales at American Film Market.

In November 2014, the film was sold to international distributors, and Path would distribute the film in the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland.

Casting

Simon Helberg was set on 27 March 2015 to play Cosm McMoon, pianist and the accompanist to Jenkins. Rebecca Ferguson was added to the cast on 1 April 2015 On 13 April 2015, Nina Arianda joined the film to play Agnes Stark, a showgirl struggling to move up into high society with the help of her husband.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began in May 2015 in London. Path released a first-look photo on 22 May, featuring Streep and Grant as Jenkins and Bayfield, respectively. Filming was done in Hoylake and near Liverpool City Centre.

On 15 June, Grant and Ferguson were spotted filming in a resort in New Brighton, Merseyside. Filming had also been done in Liverpool, the city was transformed into the classic New York City, Liverpool's Drury Lane street was transformed into Central Park West, where Streep and Grant were spotted filming in June 2015. Production concluded on July 20, 2015.

Release

In September 2015, Paramount Pictures acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at the Belfast Film Festival on 23 April 2016. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 6 May 2016. It will be released in the United States on 12 August 2016.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Florence Foster Jenkins is set to be released on August 12, 2016, against Pete's Dragon and Sausage Party, and is projected to gross $5-7 million from 1,500 theaters in its opening weekend.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 90%, based on 77 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical concensus reads "Florence Foster Jenkins makes poignant, crowd-pleasing dramedy out of its stranger-than-fiction tale -- and does its subject justice with a reliably terrific turn from star Meryl Streep." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 68 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".