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MGM has tapped Jessica Rothe (“La La Land”) as the female lead in MGM’s musical adaptation of the 1983 comedy “Valley Girl.”
The new “Valley Girl” is produced by Matt Smith. Rachel Lee Goldenberg came on two weeks ago to direct from a script by Amy Talkington. Clay Weiner had been attached to direct the project several years ago.
Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman starred in the original movie, which was directed by Martha Coolidge in a story of Foreman’s Valley Girl falling in love with Cage’s punk-rock character. The film, which cost only $350,000 to produce, was a solid performer at the box office with $17 million.
The movie was released in the wake of the success of Frank Zappa’s “Valley Girl” song, in which his 14-year-old daughter Moon Unit Zappa mocked the unique speech patterns of teenage girls from the Valley.
The soundtrack for the original “Valley Girl” featured songs from the Plimsouls, Josie Cotton, Bonnie Hayes, Modern English, and the Payolas.
Rothe portrayed the Alexis character in Lionsgate’s upcoming musical “La La Land,” as one of the roommates of Emma Stone’s character. The film, directed by Damien Chazelle, will open in limited theatrical release on Dec. 9.
Variety reported in October that Rothe was starring in Blumhouse’s horror movie “Half to Death.”
Rothe just wrapped the indie feature “Forever My Girl.” Her other credits include Gabriele Muccino’s “Summertime,” “The Disaster Artist,” and “Please Stand By” with Dakota Fanning and Toni Collette. She also appeared in the web series “High Maintenance,” which recently sold to HBO, and currently stars in MTV’s comedy “Mary + Jane.”
Rothe is repped by Gersh, Principato Young and Hansen Jacobson. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
