Queen Latifah Takes On NBA Cinderella Story

[Wednesday, March 19th, 2003]
Queen LatifahDisney has bought the rights for screenwriter Michael Elliot's pitch 'Just Wright' for Queen Latifah to star and produce, according to Variety.

Latifah, who has been nominated for an Oscar for her role in Chicago and is current riding on the top spot in the box office charts in Disney's Bringing Down the House, will get to play the princess in a modern-day retelling of Cinderella set in the world of pro basketball.

Latifah will star as Janice Wright, a physical therapist drafted by an all-star basketball player to move in and help him recover from a career-threatening injury. The hoop star then begins to fall for his therapist.

"This idea came about as I watched Queen Latifah looking great as she walked down the red carpet at the Golden Globes and a woman in the group said, 'Why doesn't someone put her in a romantic comedy?'," Elliot said. "They don't usually give actresses like Latifah those films, but as I looked around the room, most of the women there didn't look like Halle Berry.

"It took Tom Hanks' clout to get 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' made, but (star) Nia Vardalos proved that you don't have to be Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan or Halle to appeal to the real women who identify with women like Nia or Latifah."

"I'm from South Philly," he said. "So while I know that when parents of my white friends say they want their daughters to marry a professional, they mean doctors and lawyers. Where I come from, they want them to marry professional athletes because they are our princes."

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