Josh Whitehouse, star of the BBC series “Poldark,” will star in MGM’s musical remake of “Valley Girl” opposite Jessica Rothe with shooting planned for Los Angeles later this year.
Whitehouse will play the role of a punk rock musician who falls in love with a girl from the San Fernando Valley. Nicolas Cage played the part in the 1982 original film.
Rachel Lee Goldenberg is directing from a script by Amy Lee Talkington, with revisions by Marti Noxon. Matt Smith is the producer.
Cage starred with Deborah Foreman starred in the original movie, which was directed by Martha Coolidge. 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, who also stars in “La La Land,” was tapped for the lead of the remake in November.
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Whitehouse also starred in “Northern Soul” and in the Mr. Burberry ad campaign. He is repped by CAA, United Agents and Untitled Entertainment. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
