Being The Ricardos - What We Know So Far
"I Love Lucy," which starred real-life married couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, is one of the most significant TV shows of all time. The classic sitcom, which became an absolute hit in its time, has only maintained its popularity over the years, with Ball especially becoming a cultural icon. Now, an upcoming film titled "Being the Ricardos" will take a peek behind the curtain into the making of "I Love Lucy."
News of the project first circulated back in 2017, with Aaron Sorkin attached to pen the screenplay and Cate Blanchett attached to portray Ball (via Deadline). After a few years of no other news on the project, "Being the Ricardos" was officially announced in January of 2021 with Nicole Kidman set to play Ball and Javier Barden set to play Arnaz, as reported by Deadline. Sorkin was also announced as both the writer and the director of the project for Amazon Studios. Sorkin, a longtime screenwriter, has penned films such as 2010's "The Social Network" and 2015's "Steve Jobs," while "Being the Ricardos" will mark his third time as a director, following 2017's "Molly's Game" and 2020's "The Trial of Chicago 7," both of which he also wrote. He has been nominated for an Oscar four times for his screenplays (via IMDb), winning once for "The Social Network."
With so many major names attached to the project, there's a lot to be excited about with "Being the Ricardos." Read on to find out what else we know so far.
When will Being the Ricardos be released?
"Being the Ricardos" is slated to premiere in limited theaters on December 10, 2021 and will be available for streaming on Prime Video on a week and a half later on December 21, 2021. In a September 2021 interview with Vanity Fair, Sorkin confirmed that they were in the editing process. He stated, "Right this minute, in London at Abbey Road Studios, they are recording the last bits of score. And then we have the sound mix and the color timing. Those are things that take a couple of weeks. So we do all that, we'll be finished. We've rounded third. We're heading for home."
In the same interview, Sorkin also teased the project, giving eager viewers a reason to be patient in waiting for the release date, saying, "When we think of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, what we're thinking of, really, is Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. And they are not at all like Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. And Lucy especially is nothing like Lucy Ricardo. And it was the friction in their relationship that drew me to writing about it."
On October 19, a trailer for "Being the Ricardos" was released, showcasing just a glimpse of Kidman as Ball and revealing some of the action moviegoers can expect on release day.
Who stars in Being the Ricardos?
As mentioned previously, Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem will be taking on the leading roles of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Most recently, Kidman has starred in the Hulu miniseries, "Nine Perfect Strangers" and the HBO miniseries, "The Undoing." Bardem has most recently starred in 2020's "The Roads Not Taken" and will appear in the upcoming (and highly anticipated) "Dune."
Fans of "I Love Lucy" know that the show was rounded out by Lucy and Ricardo's best friends, Ethel and Fred, played by Vivian Vance and William Frawley. For "Being the Ricardos," Nina Arianda and J. K. Simmons will be portraying Vance and Frawley, respectively. Arianda's most recent project is the Prime legal drama, "Goliath," which just aired its fourth and final season in September. Simmons, a veteran actor, appeared alongside Arianda in the fourth season of "Goliath" and will also be showing up in the upcoming "Spider-Man: No Way Home," reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi's "Spider Man" trilogy.
Three of the most well-known writers from "I Love Lucy" will also be characters in the upcoming film — Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr.: Tony Hale will portray Oppenheimer, Alia Shawkat will portray Pugh, and Jake Lacy will portray Carroll. Hale, a frequent voice actor, has most recently lent his voice to shows such as the "Rugrats" reboot and "HouseBroken." Shawkat, likely most known for co-starring on "Arrested Development," has most recently appeared in the HBO dark comedy series "Search Party." Finally, Lacy recently made waves with his starring role on HBO's satirical comedy "The While Lotus."
What will Being the Ricardos be about?
"Being the Ricardos" will follow Lucy and Desi through one week of production of "I Love Lucy," from the table read on Monday to filming in front of an audience of Friday. During that week, Lucy and Desi will face some sort of crisis that could potentially put both their show and their marriage at risk.
This crisis in question has, at this time of writing, been kept very hush hush. In his Vanity Fair interview, Aaron Sorkin confirmed that he was hesitant to reveal what it was prior to the film's release. He also revealed that while the film takes place in just one week, there will be flashbacks throughout. The trailer gives us an early look into what the film will showcase — namely, the real Ball from behind the camera, who viewers may think they know, but really only know her onscreen persona. In the trailer, Ball confidently narrates, "I get paid a fortune to do exactly what I love doing. I work side by side with my husband, who is genuinely impressed by me."
We can expect that the film will be quite accurate to the real life couple — at least according to Ball and Arnaz's daughter, Lucie Arnaz. In a video on her Instagram, Arnaz revealed that she has seen the film and declared, " It's freaking amazing. [Aaron Sorkin] captured the essence of that time in their lives so well. He captured the heart of my mother, my father, their relationship."
We can't wait to see the "amazing" film bring Ball and Arnaz back to life when it premieres in December.