A TV movie about Celine's career

[Elaine]

So you have to be retired (or dead  ) first to deserve a movie? 

I don't think so. I think it means you've achieved so much, this movie only adds one more thing to that huge and impressive list. And it's an honour. It means you did great.

 

But we already knew that, didn't we? She's The Queen...! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I totally agree!! You don't have to be retired to have a movie about you!

 

Name of the Movie: Celine Dion Movie 

Actress: Cate Blanchett 

Cate blanchett:"The only problem is that i cant sing, so i will learn it"

The rest is nothing new!

 

they really should use playback or live playback! Its stupid to use her voice!

I hope the news are not true...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

well, I guess this is THE problem! Not only one! If you can't sing you can't act as Céline! But anyway, I really hope this is not really true...

[Ronny83]

Barna-Alper Secures Broadcast Commitments on New Shows

 

TORONTO, January 16: Barna-Alper Productions has announced a range of network deals on its stable of new productions, including a commitment by CBC for a TV movie about Celine Dion.

 

Production begins this March on Celine, written by Donald Martin and based on the book A New Day Dawns by Barry Gills and Jim Brown.

This is the book: http://www.amazon.com/Celine-Dion-New-Day-...ie=UTF8&s=books

[Un Rêve]

Okay seriously, we can't look for an actress who looks like Céline, wants to play the role of Céline and can SING like Céline. I think Cate would actually be a really good fit for the role. Here's the interview btw:

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZTwJg3S6NGY

[Ronny83]

First it was Shania, now Céline is getting a turn. Toronto's Barna-Alper Productions is in preproduction on the MOW biopic Céline, based on the life of singer Céline Dion, to air on CBC.

 

Donald Martin (My Life as a Dog) wrote the screenplay from the book Céline Dion: A New Day Dawns by Barry Gills and Jim Brown.

 

"It's a really well-known subject matter, so for our audiences - which are so fragmented - to know immediately from the title what the pic is about is really important," says Loren Mawhinney, VP of programming at BAP.

 

Céline will hand the Ceeb another big audience not unlike BAP's Shania: A Life in Eight Albums, about country star Shania Twain, which grabbed 1.2 million viewers on Nov. 7, 2005.

 

"The thing with Céline and Shania is that they were young girls with raw talent who made it, despite the odds. It's an inspirational story," Mawhinney says.

 

Filming is set to commence in March in Ontario, though BAP has yet to lock a director.

[Lulu]

The director is Jeff Woolnough & I heard that the girl cast as Celine doesn't even look like her.

[Paulinha Dion]

Thanks for the news !!

[CSCfan]

The director is Jeff Woolnough & I heard that the girl cast as Celine doesn't even look like her.

 

How weird....for the Shania biopic, they definately searched for someone who looked like her..

[Viva las Vegas]

Celine Dion TV movie shooting ... in Toronto

Brendan Kelly, Montreal Gazette

Published: Tuesday, April 10, 2007

 

The Celine Dion story is coming to the small-screen but her local francophone fans will be disappointed to learn that the TV movie is being shot entirely in English in Toronto and Hamilton. There are no plans to air the bio-pic of Quebec’s most famous chanteuse in French.

 

Shooting began Sunday at the Glenn Gould Theatre at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto and continued Monday with scenes shot at the chic Windsor Arms Hotel just off Bloor St. in the heart of Toronto’s financial district.

 

The movie, titled Celine, is produced by Toronto-based Barna-Alper Productions, the same company that produced the Shania Twain bio, Shania: A Life in Eight albums, which garnered more than one million viewers on CBC two years ago. Celine is set to air sometime next season on CBC, likely early in 2008.

 

It stars Montreal up-and-comer Christine Ghawi as the adult Dion and the Nanaimo, B.C.-born Jodelle Ferland as Dion from the age of 10 to 12.

 

Producer Laszlo Barna told The Gazette on Tuesday that the Celine Dion movie is being made only in English because he wants to focus on selling the film internationally.

 

The Hungarian-born Barna, a former Montrealer now based in Toronto, is not upbeat about the notion of making movies that work in both the French and English-Canadian markets. His recent production October 1970, a Halifax-shot mini-series about the October Crisis, aired last fall only on CBC in English, to dismal ratings. It didn’t play in French because he couldn’t persuade Radio-Canada to air the project even though it starred francophone Quebecois actors and was set in Montreal.

 

The mini-series garnered rave reviews in the French press.

 

Barna said he hopes Quebecers don’t look at the Cline project and say “ ‘Anglo runs away and does this’, because gee I’d be the wrong guy to do that to,” said Barna. “I just did an authentic, real stick-to-your-roots movie on the October Crisis and fell on my face. I’m doing (Cline) because I love this story and I’m going to stop dreaming that I can straddle two markets at the same time. Whether it’s the buyers who won’t allow two audiences or whether it’s audiences who demand their own films. I’m not going to pretend this works. If this inspires another version of (the) Cline Dion (story) in French, great. That would be wonderful.”

 

Feeling burned by his experience with Radio-Canada on October 1970, Barna did not approached the French network with the Celine project.

 

The movie marks a major break for Ghawi, a little-known local actress who has had some small movie and TV roles. The Cyprus-born Montrealer’s biggest gig to date was playing the Sarah Jessica Parker character Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and la Cite, a spoof of Sex and the City that ran at the Just For Laughs fest last year.

 

Ferland, the 12-year-old actress who plays Dion at a younger age, was recently nominated for a Genie as best actress for the film Tideland.

 

Toronto actor Enrico Colantoni – best-known for his recurring role as the fashion photographer Elliot DiMauro on the sitcom Just Shoot Me – plays Dion’s husband and manager Ren Anglil. Singer and stage actress Louise Pitre (Mamma Mia!) portrays Dion’s mother Therese and New Brunswick-born thespian Peter MacNeill plays Dion’s dad Adhmar.

Celine is directed by Jeff Woolnough (CSI, Battlestar Gallactica) and was written by Donald Martin, based on the biography, A New Day Dawns, by Barry Gills and Jim Brown. It follows Dion until the age of 24.

 

The movie is not an authorized biography and neither Dion nor Angelil is involved in the project. There will be no original Dion music in the movie. Instead a selection of Dion hits will be interpreted by Toronto singer Trish O’Brian. Ghawi will not do any of her own singing.

 

Though it is not an authorized bio-pic, Barna has no intention of dishing any dirt on Dion or Angelil.

Barna sees Dion’s life is an inspirational tale, and the film will chronicle her rise from modest beginnings in the town of Charlemagne just outside Montreal to worldwide stardom. For Barna, Dion and Shania Twain have much in common.

 

“You have these two women who’ve had these unbelievable success stories but both come from humble backgrounds,” said Barna. “I love underdog stories. This is my Canadian idol.”

Filming on Cline continues in Toronto and Hamilton until May 5.

 

bkelly@thegazette.canwest.com

 

source: Montreal Gazette

 

This is the "older" Céline:

http://www.fusionpresents.com/IMAGES/christine/biopic5.jpg

 

Young Céline:

http://gfx.filmweb.pl/p/85873/po.135543.jpg

 

René:

http://www.reel.com/Content/Reelimages/dvd/dvd_colantoni_big.jpg

 

Thérèse Dion:

http://www.hotoronto.com/06spring/songwriters-3-DSCF6393.jpg

 

Céline's dad:

http://www.classictvhits.com/cast/3949.jpg

Edited April 11, 2007 at 07:47 AM by Viva las Vegas

[nano]

This sounds interesting..

 

There will be no original Dion music in the movie. Instead a selection of Dion hits will be interpreted by Toronto singer Trish O’Brian.

Too bad Celine and Rene aren't involved in the project, the movie would be much more interesting if there was original songs.

[SFchick]

Oh my this is gonna be funny

[VinnyT.]

This sounds interesting..

 

There will be no original Dion music in the movie. Instead a selection of Dion hits will be interpreted by Toronto singer Trish O’Brian.

Too bad Celine and Rene aren't involved in the project, the movie would be much more interesting if there was original songs.

 

 

of course they are involved! they couldnt do any movie without their permission.

[nano]

This sounds interesting..

 

There will be no original Dion music in the movie. Instead a selection of Dion hits will be interpreted by Toronto singer Trish O’Brian.

Too bad Celine and Rene aren't involved in the project, the movie would be much more interesting if there was original songs.

 

 

of course they are involved! they couldnt do any movie without their permission.

 

The movie is not an authorized biography and neither Dion nor Angelil is involved in the project.

[VinnyT.]

Yeah of course they are not part of the script but I really think CBC needs a kind of permission to shoot it!

[Ronny83]

But I think they should ask permission to use the name "Céline Dion".

[Teodora]

This sounds interesting..

 

There will be no original Dion music in the movie. Instead a selection of Dion hits will be interpreted by Toronto singer Trish O’Brian.

Too bad Celine and Rene aren't involved in the project, the movie would be much more interesting if there was original songs.

 

 

of course they are involved! they couldnt do any movie without their permission.

YOu don't need permission to shoot a movie about anybody. They are not involved in any way. I really don't think a not-so-good TV movie is interesting... Celine is still writing her story, she's got so more to say still. It's nice they thought of her, but I don't want to see a movie about Celine until she's like 80 or something and I want it to be something as good as "Ray" or "Ali".

[VinnyT.]

you should die or suffering from a bad desease to have an hollywood movie about you

[amelie]

Yeah of course they are not part of the script but I really think CBC needs a kind of permission to shoot it!

 

haven't you heard of UNauthorized biographies?

 

i think its nice to see that movie, besides it shows her rise to worldside stardom not her whole career, it says it follows Dion till the age of 24.

 

Maybe in 10 years a Hollywood production could be made about Celine's whole career ,where Celine and Rene could be involved (maybe celine could make a cameo appearance )

 

and i hope Cate Blanchet stars or maybe a younger actress will e needed by then, but then again Celine always looked quite old...so Blanchet in 10 years would be just fine

Edited April 11, 2007 at 01:41 PM by amelie

[Celinenvegas]

This sounds interesting..

 

There will be no original Dion music in the movie. Instead a selection of Dion hits will be interpreted by Toronto singer Trish O’Brian.

Too bad Celine and Rene aren't involved in the project, the movie would be much more interesting if there was original songs.

 

 

of course they are involved! they couldnt do any movie without their permission.

YOu don't need permission to shoot a movie about anybody. They are not involved in any way. I really don't think a not-so-good TV movie is interesting... Celine is still writing her story, she's got so more to say still. It's nice they thought of her, but I don't want to see a movie about Celine until she's like 80 or something and I want it to be something as good as "Ray" or "Ali".

 

 

Well anything about Celine would be interesting to all of us! I don't know Trish O'Brian, how is her voice? Is it a big and strong??

[Esty]

you should die or suffering from a bad desease to have an hollywood movie about you

 

Unfortunately. However, I still think it's kind of weird to make a movie about someone who's at the top of their career like Celine. Maybe when she will retire in the far away future so the film could present her career as a whole. A film like Ray would be quite appropriate...

Nevertheless, Kate Blanchett would be a perfect choice as Celine!

[blue.grave]

This movie sounds cool, but I rather wait and see how this movie turns out. And I hope that there will be a better version of a Celine Dion movie in the future.

[VinnyT.]

yeah we will have also an hollywood movie but we have to wait at least 20 yrs!

[amelie]

no way there gonna wait that long...20 years is max not minimum Celine is already a legend, i could see a movie 5-10 years from now, unless this one could satisfy the demand Edited April 11, 2007 at 04:17 PM by amelie

[smw]

I'm currently double majoring in Theatre/Film. It's always been my dream to create a proper Celine Dion story, as well as a Karen Carpenter story. Obviously, Karen's would come first and would have much more to the story...but Celine has a lot of life left to live, even though she's already seven years older than Karen was when she died.

 

Anyway, I could care less about this cheesy TV movie. One day, even if I'm not the one who gets to do it, Celine will have a proper movie made about her life.

[Mozinha]

This is so gonna be like those cheesy movies you watch because you like the theme. Just like Ice Princess and Stick It- I had to endure it for the love of figure skating and gymnastics.

 

Oh well, there is no movie I wouldn't watch for Celine.

[celinerific]

I feel so fortunate to be living in Toronto.

[Koolan]

this is too funny

[JP]

Sounds weird, it sounds a little bit like a cheap thing, do for some money.. We will see!

It will be on CBC in 2008

 

They don't need the permission of Rene and Celine to do that?

[Ronny83]

Dion TV biopic too focused on English career, Rad-Can says

BRENDAN KELLY, The Gazette

Published: Thursday, April 12, 2007

 

A coming made-for-CBC bio-pic of Quebecoise songbird Celine Dion will not be airing on Radio-Canada because it is too focused on Dion's English career. A Radio-Canada spokesperson said executives at CBC's French-language sister network read the script for Celine, which is currently shooting in English in Toronto and Hamilton, and decided to take a pass on the project because they thought it would be of little interest to Quebec audiences.

 

"We didn't go for the project because it's really for an anglophone public," said Guylaine O'Farrell, head of press relations at Radio-Canada.

 

"It's really not meant for an audience that already knows a lot about Celine Dion. Here in Quebec, we're very close to Celine Dion's career, and this is a TV movie where 'la petite fille de Charlemagne' speaks English right from the beginning. Even if we dubbed it, it wouldn't be faithful to her career here in Quebec. There is very little in the script about her career in Quebec nor on her career in France. It's really an English American perspective. But she's 'une petite fille de chez nous,' and anglophones and francophones have very different points of view on this singer. The film is really for an audience that's a lot less familiar with the story of Celine Dion than Quebec fans, who know the story so well."

 

For those same reasons, Radio-Canada had no interest in doing the project as a double shoot in French and English.

 

Filming kicked off Sunday in Toronto on Celine, which stars Montreal up-and-comer Christine Ghawi as Dion, and with 12-year-old Genie-nominated actress Jodelle Ferland playing Dion from the age of 10 to 12.

 

Celine producer Laszlo Barna has said he is disappointed that the film will not be airing in French in Quebec. CBC will air it next season, likely early in 2008.

 

It is based on the unauthorized biography Celine Dion: A New Day by authors Barry Grills and Jim Brown, and neither Dion nor her husband/manager Rene Angelil are involved in the movie project. O'Farrell from Radio-Canada also said her network would be reluctant to produce a movie not officially sanctioned by the Dion camp.

 

"If we eventually decide to do a biography of Celine Dion, it will be done with their participation," O'Farrell said.

Source: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news...06-98cd2f9b0738

[Ronny83]

René got mad because they are shotting the film without his permission:

 

LE TÉLÉFILM CÉLINE

Le projet, non autorisé, contrarie René Angélil

Agnès Gaudet

Le Journal de Montréal

12-04-2007 | 06h11

 

René Angélil a appris hier qu'un téléfilm de deux heures sur la vie et la carrière de Céline Dion était en tournage. Il se dit déçu que CBC accepte de diffuser un projet non autorisé comme celui-là.

 

Il y a six mois, René Angélil avait vaguement entendu parler du projet par Paul Farberman, du bureau de Productions Feeling de Los Angeles. Le producteur du téléfilm intitulé Céline, Laszlo Barna, avait contacté l'organisation de la chanteuse pour savoir si René Angélil approuvait son projet. La réponse a tout de suite été négative et l'impresario a cru que le producteur avait laissé tomber.

 

Hier, René Angélil apprenait avec stupéfaction, en même temps que tout le monde, que le tournage du film venait de débuter à Toronto. «C'est très décevant, a commenté René Angélil de Las Vegas. Je suis déçu de l'attitude de CBC et choqué qu'elle accepte de diffuser notre histoire au Canada, sur un réseau auquel on contribue, même en sachant qu'on n'est pas impliqué, sans compter qu'un scénario non autorisé le rend plus populaire.»

 

N'importe qui peut tourner une série (le téléfilm de deux heures pourrait être diffusé en plusieurs épisodes) sur la vie de Céline Dion ou n'importe quelle personnalité, sans autorisation. Le seul recours possible est la poursuite au moment de sa sortie, s'il y a matière à poursuite. «On n'a aucune idée de ce qu'on va retrouver dans cette série, confesse René Angélil, et on ne peut rien faire à moins de prouver qu'il y a diffamation.»

 

En 19 jours

 

Le projet en question est un téléfilm de deux heures basé sur le livre Céline Dion: A New Day Dawns (aube), de Barry Gills et Jim Brown. Le tournage est doté d'un budget de 4 millions et compte 19 jours de tournage, à Toronto et à Hamilton en Ontario. Le tournage a débuté il y a deux jours et se prolongera jusqu'au 5 mai.

 

Le téléfilm est tourné en anglais seulement et sera diffusé à l'antenne de CBC. Il retrace de façon chronologique l'ascension de Céline Dion, de son petit village jusqu'à la gloire, l'histoire du pouvoir d'un rêve, explique-t-on. La série se termine juste avant l'engagement de Céline Dion au Caesars Palace de Las Vegas.

 

Selon le producteur Laszlo Barna, sa série, qu'elle soit autorisée ou non, ne sera pas controversée. «Il y a plus d'une façon de raconter une histoire. Moi, je fais celle-ci pour ma mère, une fan de Céline», déclare-t-il au Journal.

 

Autres productions

 

Laszlo Barna, de Barna-Alper, un Montréalais qui habite maintenant Toronto, a aussi produit le téléfilm sur la vie et la carrière de Shania Twain, et ceux sur Morgan Taller et Sue Rodriguez, des séries sur des héros, spécifie-t-il, leur détermination et leur talent, ainsi que la série Octobre 1970 sur la Crise d'octobre qui a été diffusée l'automne dernier à CBC et qui sera présentée bientôt à Télé-Québec.

 

Puisque Radio-Canada n'avait pas embarqué dans son projet d'Octobre 1970, Barna a préféré s'abstenir de lui proposer la série Céline.

 

Le téléfilm Céline est réalisé par Jeff Woolnough (C.S.I., Battlestar Galactica) et met en vedette Christine Ghawi dans le rôle de Céline, Enrico Colantoni dans le rôle de René Angélil, Jodelle Ferland dans le rôle de Céline enfant. Louise Pitre (Mamma Mia!) jouera Thérèse Dion et Peter MacNeil, Adhémar Dion.

[VinnyT.]

see I thought to shoot it they had the permission!now rene's reaction is normal