"W.E" (2012) - Film produced by Madonna on the Abdication of Edward VIII


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Weinstein Co. Acquires Madonna's 'W.E.' - The Hollywood Reporter

The Weinstein Co. has acquired U.S. rights to W.E., the new feature film directed by Madonna.

Written by Madonna and Alek Keshishian, the film stars Andrea Riseborough as the American divorcee Wallis Simpson for whom King Edward VIII, played by James D’Arcy, gave up his throne. The movie juxtaposes their love story with that of a contemporary couple, with Abbie Cornish as a New York who becomes obsessed with the royal love affair.
 
I actually have read somewhere saying they think the movie is good. I'll give it a shot, once it's out
 
I am eager to see what kind of movie it will turn out to be. I am one of these people who obsess about accuracy in history based movies and have my fingers crossed that Madonna treated this subject with accuracy and does not overly romanticize the Edward and Mrs. Simpson relationship.

It was a love story but an arguably unhealthy one when you read the testimony of some friends and aids close to them at the time. It was him who needed her and she seems to have bossed him around more often than not.
 
I've read the script (it leaked online a while ago) and it doesn't romanticize anything. It's very dark; way too dark for my tastes. In the movie they pretty much hate each other by the end.

It seems like she wanted to make the relationship look messy and complicated and make Wallis seem human, but she didn't do a good job of it.
 
I noticed that quite a few "The Tudors" actresses have been in WE.
 
An early review done by Roger Friedman, one of the best movie critics;

Well, I may have to eat my hat. The inside word from The Weinstein Company is that Madonna’s effort as a movie director, “W.E.,” is really really good. Gregg Kilday is reporting that the Weinstein Company has bought the rights to Madonna’s movie. Now I’ve called some people I know–not Harvey or Bob–and they’ve told me the story. They bought the movie outright–no one else saw it. Madonna showed it to TWC first probably because Harvey Weinstein released her “Truth or Dare” twenty years ago. And the people who saw “W.E.,” including Harvey and Bob, loved it.
My first question: does it have any reference to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as Nazi sympathizers? I am told it’s at least mentioned. But this is also what was said: “It’s a smart and thoughtful and incredibly stylish. A performance by Andrea Riseborough that’s Oscar worthy. I don’t know how the f— she [Madonna] did it. It’s an art picture, there’s no question about it. It’s a picture for women. Bob and Harvey really loved it. This is a lot like Tom Ford’s directing of A Single Man. We were impressed with her. Everyone’s been talking about her in house for two weeks. She’s gotten it all up there on the screen. It’s hard to tell a good story. She managed to do it.”
My sources say this is all really true. They even say that they know there will be skepticism, but that once people see “W.E.,” they’ll get it.
I know, this is insane. People who read this column probably think I’ve been abducted by aliens. I can only go by what I’m told, though. And if “W.E.” is really so good, I’ll be the first to say it. The sales price, by the way, is said to be less than $5 million. More likely in the $4 million range.
showbizz411
 
I am willing to give this movie a try- a good film is a good film regardless of who directed and if it sucks oh well no harm for me..... Is anyone interested in seeing it? Especially after the above review....?
 
If the Weinstein Company has bought this money, it means they're out for Oscar gold. TWC is a wee bit shady but they're the force behind many Oscar bidding movies. The King's Speech, The Fighter, Nine, Inglourious Bastards, The Reader, The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
It's quite a good sign really, even though I hate Harvey Weinstein.
 
I might see the movie; it could be a good picture even though Madonna is behind it.
 
Have you heard that the Madonna movie is getting Oscar buzz?
 
If Madonna made a good movie I will be surprised, though she was in A League of Their Own and Evita, her closest film is Swept Away even if she didn't direct it. The pictures I have seen, I think they were Vanity Fair, it looks like something pretty enough that I would enjoy. It also seems Madonna is playing towards the "Wallis as somewhat of a victim" angle.
 
I have mixed feelings on this project,I'd like to see her do well as I've read about how much time she's spent on it.

She also busy recording her next studio album,where does she find the time?
 
I am looking forward to seeing the film - the production values alone should make it very pleasing to the eye. It wouldn't matter who made the film, the subject matter will always divide people's opinions. I applaud Madonna for tackling it.
 
She also busy recording her next studio album,where does she find the time?
Good question. I read an article in Maxim about Guy Ritchie who said his ex wife (he was still smarting after the divorce) had more get up and go at her age than most people at HALF her age.

As to Madonna's acting, she only acts well if she's got a good director behind her. Suddenly Susan was good, as well as A League of Their Own, Dick Tracy, and Evita. The stinkeroos were Shanghi Surprise (with then hubby Sean Penn--funny, however, she sang a song for his movie "The Falcon and the Snowman" which was a huge hit) Die Another Day, Swept Away, Body of Evidence, the list could go on.
She IS a very hard worker and I have a lot of respect for her in that regard so it will be interesting to see how her directorial debut will turn out.
 
Have you heard that the Madonna movie is getting Oscar buzz?

Apparently the some members of the audiance at the Venice premiere broke out laughing during the film, which is not a comedy, so that should not bode well for Oscars but I guess stranger things have happened. Madonna apparently has the Duchess dancing to music by the Sex Pistols, so maybe it is a comedy after all.
 
Apparently the some members of the audiance at the Venice premiere broke out laughing during the film, which is not a comedy, so that should not bode well for Oscars but I guess stranger things have happened. Madonna apparently has the Duchess dancing to music by the Sex Pistols, so maybe it is a comedy after all.
It is not necessarily to be a comedy,in "Marie-Antoinette" movie,Sofia Coppola included modern music,but it's not a comedy,although it has some funny moments.
 
Marie-Antoinette was a horrible movie. And apparently the dance music was changed and it was time appropriate (by that I mean the song was released at the time the dancing occurred)
 
I'm sorry I don't remember Madonna being in Die Another Day; I have never seen a James Bond movie BUT when it comes to that movie all I ever heard was that she sang the theme song.
It's sad that when it comes to acting that everyone remembers Swept Away and forgets how good she was in earlier films.
 
To people who are going to see the film, what do you think of Andrea as Wallis, most of what I have heard about her is she is very beautiful; perhaps to beautiful to play Wallis.
I love Natalie Dormer, and I'm sad that she is playing the Queen Mother; again probably an actress who is too beautiful in comparison to the real life person.
 
Venice Film Festival, Day Two: Madonna's W.E. is Forgettable; Polanski's Carnage Giddily Enjoyable - Thompson on Hollywood
And so to today’s films. To say W.E. divided critics would be an understatement. In particular sections of the British press, who seemed pre-disposed to dislike it because of Madonna’s participation, turned vicious. Some US and Australian reactions, among others, were more favourable.
My view on W.E. was that it’s silly and forgettable, but you could choose to be appalled or amused by it, and I chose the latter. It’s rather better than expected; it’s not without its endearing moments. Still, a Madonna film that deals partly with the love affair between King Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson is undeniably a strange concoction. Madonna (who also co-scripted with Alex Keshishian) has fashioned a split-level story of two couples: the Windsors, and the growing attraction between Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish), a contempo Manhattan woman, and Evgeni (Oscar Isaac), a handsome Russian working the security detail at Sotheby’s. Wally, unhappily married, has inherited her mother’s and grandmother’s obsession with Wallis and Edward (played by Andrea Riseborough and James d’Arcy). She doggedly researches their lives, seeking clues about how to live her own. In extreme moments, Wallis Simpson actually appears to her, offering advice – including “Get a life!” W.E. skips around in time, tracing the Windsors’ budding romance, the scandal and Edward’s abdication. Meanwhile Wally’s affair with the hunky Evgeni blossoms.
In presenting these intertwined stories Madonna keeps the emotional level on overload. Abel Korzoniowski’s crashingly loud music thrums repetitively. Madonna’s familiarity with pop videos is evident from her focussing on arresting images: a teardrop in close-up, welling from an unblinking eye.
It all looks good, or at least glossy, in the manner of high-end cosmetics commercials. Exotic locations (Portofino, Cap d’Antibes) are visited, and luxury brand names (Moet, Cartier, Schiaparelli) dropped. Wally pays repeatedly visits an auction of the Windsors’ possessions; W.E. often feels like an extended infomercial for Sotheby’s New York. Yet Riseborough and Cornish acquit themselves well, and W.E. may appeal to younger female audiences intrigued by fashion. One suspects Madonna views the Windsors primarily as style icons; her version of their lives is a fantasia that will not trouble historians. (She seems to condone Edward and Wallis’s cozy relationship with the Third Reich.) Yet after a surfeit of dull, dutiful books and stale, plodding TV documentaries about this unappealing couple, this frivolous, over the top treatment almost seems a relief.

The critics already hate Madonna's new movie | Film | Newswire | The A.V. Club

I wonder if its about Madonna being the regisseur or the movie simply being bad.

Yesterday Madonna presented herself as a diva, at the press conference a fan gave her some flowers and she put them away muttering I hate such flowers (although she acknowledged that it wasnt the fan's fault).
 
To people who are going to see the film, what do you think of Andrea as Wallis, most of what I have heard about her is she is very beautiful; perhaps to beautiful to play Wallis.
I love Natalie Dormer, and I'm sad that she is playing the Queen Mother; again probably an actress who is too beautiful in comparison to the real life person.


:previous: Completely agree
 
I'm sorry I don't remember Madonna being in Die Another Day; I have never seen a James Bond movie BUT when it comes to that movie all I ever heard was that she sang the theme song.
It's sad that when it comes to acting that everyone remembers Swept Away and forgets how good she was in earlier films.

Blink & you would have missed her in it.Madge played a fencing instructor in that movie.

Die Another Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Yesterday Madonna presented herself as a diva, at the press conference a fan gave her some flowers and she put them away muttering I hate such flowers (although she acknowledged that it wasnt the fan's fault).

I saw footage of that & I think he was a reporter,old Madge has a love/hate relationship with the press.
 
So far even the best reviews seem less than glowing. It probably would have been best to leave out the modern Wally story, prehaps showing Wallis & David as seniors reflecting back at their lives, how each recalled the events leading up to the abdication/marriage.
 
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