Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, the first still from the upcoming “Florence Foster Jenkins” shows Meryl Streep as the notedly awful warbler cuddling up to Hugh Grant (playing her husband and manager, St. Clair Bayfield) in the back of a car and both dressed in their finest. Streep clutches a brochure for Carnegie Hall, where Jenkins famously sang to a sold out crowd in 1944 having become a huge draw for countless “fans” who appreciated her appalling sense of rhythm and pitch. The film also stars Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson and Nina Arianda.

Pathé announced in a press release that principal photography started today on “Florence Foster Jenkins”. The film will shoot for 10 weeks in the UK. The film will be directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Nicholas Martin. The cast is led by Meryl Streep as Florence with Hugh Grant playing her partner St Clair Bayfield. Other roles are played by Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson and Nina Arianda. “Florence Foster Jenkins” is the true story of the legendary New York heiress and socialite who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great opera singer. The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her “husband” and manager, St Clair Bayfield, an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944, St Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge. Stephen Frears said “I think the script is terrific. God knows the cast are sensational. Now is the time to panic!” Many thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

Meryl Streep may have three Oscars and dozens of Golden Globes on her shelf, but one award has been missing so far (no, not the Tony, the other one). This Sunday, Meryl won the MTV Movie Award as Best Villain for “Into the Woods”. This has been her second nomination in the same category after a first nod in 2007 for “The Devil Wears Prada”. Since Meryl didn’t attend the ceremony, there’s nothing more to report from the ceremony. In other news, actress Nina Arianda has joined the cast of “Florence Foster Jenkins”. Arianda will play Agnes Stark, “a sexy showgirl trying to work her way into the social stratosphere with the help of her husband. When she first hears Florence’s singing, she cannot help but laugh, but eventually she becomes one of her biggest supporters.”

Rebecca Ferguson is set to join the cast of Stephen Frears’ “Florence Foster Jenkins” opposite Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and The Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg. The Pathe-financed pic follows the true story of the titular character (Streep), a wealthy woman in the early 2oth century NYC high society who used her relationships and her fortune to gain traction as a singer. With one catch: She couldn’t actually sing. Grant plays her butler and best friend, while Ferguson will play Grant’s long-suffering wife. Earlier this week, Deadline exclusively revealed that Helberg would be boarding in the role of Cosme McMoon, Florence’s accompanist on the piano. Many thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

Here comes a nice interview by the Washington Post. Meryl Streep sings. Her fans know this. Meryl Streep sang in “Postcards From the Edge,” in “Ironweed,” on the children’s album “Philadelphia Chickens” and, of course, in “Mamma Mia,” the movie that improbably, given all the successes in her career, made her a box-office star. That Meryl Streep can sing Sondheim is something that music-theater aficionados are likely to question — until, at least, they’ve heard it. Streep, as film and theater fans are well aware by now, plays the Witch in the new Rob Marshall film of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Like most big Sondheim roles, it requires a certain level of vocal ability. Streep’s singing voice is recognizably her own; it’s also credible and moving, and it allows her, when called for, to chew the scenery in the best musical-theater tradition. “I had to expand my chest and be able to hold a tone longer than I’ve tried to do in 15 years,” Streep said, laughing, sitting at a round, white-draped table in a large empty room at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, which Disney colonized, shortly before Thanksgiving, for its “Into the Woods” media blitz. The complete interview can be read over at the Washington Post. One quote needs a special spotlight, as Meryl confirms and talks about the upcoming “Florence Foster Jenkins” biopic:

If you listen to those recordings, she was almost good, and then there was a point when she was off. And that is what makes it funny. It was almost there. It doesn’t start out badly. It starts out hopefully. I think I’m going to try to be as good as I can, and then — we’ll see.

After a few weeks’ worth of rumors, Pathé International has announced that Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant will officially be teaming up for Stephen Frears’ biopic, “Florence”. Florence stars Streep as the real-life New York heiress Florence Foster Jenkins, whose dreams of becoming a renowned opera singer are stymied by her laughable lack of talent. Grant will play her live-in partner and manager, the English actor St. Clair Bayfield, who guides Jenkins away from the real truth, which proves challenging when Jenkins decides to perform live at Carnegie Hall. The film is currently in pre-production. Michael Kuhn and Tracey Seaward will produce, and Nicholas Martin will write the script. Here’s Pathé’s official synopsis:

The true story of Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep), the legendary New York heiress and socialite who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great opera singer. The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her “husband” and manager, St Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944, St Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge.

According to the Daily Mail, Meryl Streep is in negotiations to star in a film about an opera singer who couldn’t hit a note. American-born Florence Foster Jenkins had legions of fans who filled her concerts, but it was never clear whether they genuinely enjoyed her piercing screeches — or were just going along for a laugh. Streep, who can carry a tune, has been talking to director Stephen Frears about making the movie about the lady with the variable tempo and less than perfect pitch. Maureen Lipman appeared in a play several years ago about Jenkins called Glorious, and there was a line in it about what the great Caruso said when he heard her sing. ‘I’ve never heard anything like it!’ he apparently told her, though she took it as a compliment. Hugh Grant is also in talks to play Jenkins’s manager, who may well have been more to her than that. Frears works well with women. Look at The Queen with Helen Mirren, or the movies he’s made with Judi Dench (the recent Philomena is a particular stand-out). His work is being celebrated during the BFI London Film Festival, when he will be awarded a BFI Fellowship. At least Meryl won’t need any singing lessons for this latest role. Many thanks to Frank for the heads-up.