Is A Star is Born a remake? And is it based on a true story?
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper starring in A Star is Born, Cooper’s directorial debut. (Warner Media)
It’s hard to escape the hype surrounding the movie A Star is Born and for good reasons.
The movie is Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut and stars both him and Lady Gaga as singers whose destinies are bound together.
The movie is already having some critics talking about Oscar nominations. That’s because A Star is Born is a remake of a remake. Yes, there have been three previous movies named A Star is Born, all with the same—or similar—plot, and all have earned Oscar nominations and several awards each.
Needless to say the pressure is on for Gaga and Cooper.
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga star in the 2018remake of A Star is Born (Warner Bros)
A Star is Born is a Hollywood Staple
A Star is Born follows the same narrative from film to film, with some tweaks. A young singer at the start of her career falls in love with a fading star, the movie chronicling their love story.
The first A Star is Born was released in 1937. It starred Janet Gaynor as a singer on the rise and Frederich March as her older counterpart. Unlike its subsequent remakes, the original A Star is Born is not a musical.
It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best actress, best actor and best director and won best writing (original story).
Judy Garland was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the 1954 remake of A Star is Born (Warner Bros)
In 1954, a second version of the movie was released, starring the incomparable Judy Garland as Esther Blodgett and James Mason as Norman Maine. It was nominated for six Oscars, including best actress, best actor and best original song. Garland and Mason both won Golden Globes for best actress and best actor for their performances.
Barbra Streisand won the Golden Globes for best actress for her performance in the 1976 remake of A Star is Born (Warner Bros)
Finally, a 1976 version starred Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson as a young singer and established rock star who fall in love with each other.
It won the Oscar for best original song for “Evergreen,” a song Streisand co-wrote with Paul Williams especially for the movie.
It won five Golden Globes, including best motion picture—musical or comedy, best actress in a musical or comedy, best actor in a musical or comedy, best original score and best original song.
Lady Gaga wrote songs exclusively for the movie and Cooper is doing his own singing (Warner Bros)
A movie 10 years in the making
The new A Star is Born is almost 10 years in the making.
Talk about A Star is Born being remade again started in 2011, with Clint Eastwood set to direct and Beyoncé playing the lead female role.
Several actors were considered to co-star, including Leonardo Dicaprio, Will Smith and Tom Cruise.
However, Eastwood and Beyoncé’s version was not meant to be. Beyoncé quit the movie in 2012 over delays in announcing a production start date.
Beyonce performs onstage during 2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival Weekend 1 at the Empire Polo Field on April 14, 2018 in Indio, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty)
In 2016, Cooper agreed to be the lead in the movie—and make it his directorial debut. In August that year, Gaga signed up to be the female lead and photography started in April 2017 at the Coachella music festival.
