The 2014 reimagining of ANNIE is coming to theaters this December, and today we have a new taste of what a contemporary take on the soundtrack will sound like. The first single just hit iTunes, with Australian songstress SIA serving up her version of “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.” Now, I grew up on the 1982 film (my sister and I even had the action figures for it), and my oldest (5) just did her first theatre camp this past summer doing a version of ANNIE largely based on that version. While my nostalgia is there, this is definitely ANNIE for a new generation, and I think kids are gonna love it. In fact, my little Addie says “It’s really great,” after hearing the SIA version. Take a listen below and share your thoughts…
ANNIE (2014)
A Broadway classic that has delighted audiences for generations comes to the big screen with a new, contemporary vision in Columbia Pictures’ comedy, Annie. Director/Producer/Screenwriter Will Gluck teams with producers James Lassiter, Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith, and Shawn “JAY Z” Carter, Laurence “Jay” Brown, and Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith with a modern telling that captures the magic of the classic characters and original show that won seven Tony Awards. Celia Costas serves as Executive Producer. The screenplay is by Will Gluck and Aline Brosh McKenna, based on the musical stage play “Annie,” book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and on “Little Orphan Annie,” © and ® Tribune Media Services, Inc.
Academy Award® nominee Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who’s also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they’d be back for her someday, it’s been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything’s about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) – advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne) and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) – makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he’s her guardian angel, but Annie’s self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it’s the other way around.
Bonus: Emoji – “It’s The Hard Knock Life”
