She's ready for her close up!

It has just been confirmed that Glenn Close will star in a film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, which is set to begin shooting this October.

Rob Ashford will direct Close in her Tony-winning role of Norma Desmond, with a screenplay written by Tom MacRae (Everybody's Talking About Jamie).

Based on Billy Wilder's classic Academy Award-winning film, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony Award-winning Best Musical SUNSET BOULEVARD features a celebrated book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

In her mansion on Sunset Boulevard, faded, silent-screen goddess, Norma Desmond, lives in a fantasy world. Impoverished screen writer, Joe Gillis, on the run from debt collectors, stumbles into her reclusive world. Persuaded to work on Norma's 'masterpiece', a film script that she believes will put her back in front of the cameras, he is seduced by her and her luxurious life-style. Joe becomes entrapped in a claustrophobic world until his love for another woman leads him to try and break free with dramatic consequences.

SUNSET BOULEVARD originally premiered in London's West End at the Adelphi Theatre in 1993 starring Patti LuPone, where it ran for almost four years and played to nearly two million people. The American premiere was at the Shubert Theatre in Century City, Los Angeles in December 1993 with Glenn Close as Norma. The musical was an instant success and played 369 performances before moving to Broadway in 1994 with, what was then, the biggest advance in Broadway history, at $37.5 million.

Photo Credit: Richard Hubert Smith

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