The upcoming 2025 movie Kiss of the Spider Woman will have director Bill Condon giving us the musical magic we first saw from his hits like Chicago and Dreamgirls. Watching the trailer for Jennifer Lopez’s new movie, the musical's 1920s style speaks to me, especially such a powerhouse lead. Condon explained the sweet way the long-awaited project marks a full-circle moment for him and his star, and it's like fate played a beautifully melodious hand in it all.
The closest that Jennifer Lopez has been cast in a musical of any sort was singing in movies like one of the best music biopics, Selena, and playing a pop singer in Marry Me. But with Kiss of the Spider Woman being the actress/singer’s first full-on musical for the big screen, director Bill Condon said to THR that her casting in the new movie came from a conversation they had at the 64th Golden Globes:
She handed our producer the Golden Globe for Dreamgirls, and I met her that night. She was talking about how much she wanted to make musicals. So, I just had this faith that this would speak to her.
It’s incredibly thoughtful that Bill Condon remembered Jennifer Lopez’s wishes from close to two decades ago to be in a musical. After Kiss of the Spider Woman nabbed a standing ovation at Sundance, Lopez said she knew acting was her calling after watching 1961’s West Side Story on TV. What a full-circle moment it must have been for the “Get Right” singer to finally step into a long-held dream she carried with her for years.
If anything, the Beauty and the Beast director has previously said this chance should have come for her a long time ago. Condon believed the Enough actress was “born in the wrong time” and that the Old Hollywood system would have let her singing talents shine in a movie musical much earlier. While it may have taken Lopez a long time to get her starring role in a movie musical, it feels like fate is finally catching up to her career.
As a longtime fan of the 1985 movie and the Kiss of the Spider Woman stage musical, Bill Condon had imagined making a screen adaptation since his days as a screenwriter for 2002’s Chicago. But it was a long battle securing the rights. After finally getting his movie up and going in 2023, the Gods and Monsters director told THR there was only one actress he had in mind to play Ingrid Luna, and we all know who he's referring to:
Jennifer Lopez is the reason this movie got made. There’s only one person who could play this diva. We don’t have that many divas. I can count them on one hand. And then how many of them are great dancers, singers and Latin? I think there’s only one.
There’s no argument that Jennifer Lopez is a total icon. She doesn’t just captivate audiences with the acting chops she brings to the screen. The Hollywood Walk of Fame recipient’s dance skills and powerful vocals give her undeniable attention you can see and hear from her on any concert stage. With her triple-threat talents, I’m confident Lopez will give a memorable, Oscar-worthy performance in Bill Condon’s musical movie.
Talk about a full-circle moment for Bill Condon and JLo to work together in Kiss of the Spider Woman.. In theaters this October, audiences will get the chance to see Jennifer Lopez's singing, acting, and dancing come to life in the role she was born to play.
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