First there was the news of Tom Holland playing Fred Astaire, and now fellow Avengers superhero Chris Evans is reportedly sliding on his dancing shoes to play Gene Kelly.
Evans is in talks to play the legendary Singin’ in the Rain and An American in Paris actor in an as-yet-untitled film, Deadline reported Tuesday. The project is still in its early stages, but according to the outlet, it’s about “a 12-year-old boy who works on the MGM Lot in 1952 and begins to create an imagined friendship with the legendary movie star Gene Kelly while working on his next film.”
The film is based on an original idea by Evans, who will also produce alongside Mark Kassen. Evans’ Knives Out director, Rian Johnson, will also produce with Ram Bergman for T-Street Productions. Oscar winner John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) is writing the script and producing.
Evans already has a stacked year ahead of him, including Disney’s animated film Lightyear, in which he voices beloved Toy Story hero Buzz Lightyear. He’s also starring in the Russo Brothers’ action flick The Gray Man, alongside fellow hot leading men Ryan Gosling and Regé-Jean Page.
As for whether or not Evans has any Gene Kelly-esque talents, it turns out he’s expressed interest in doing a musical in the past–in 2020, it was announced he’d star in the big-screen take on Little Shop of Horrors, which was subsequently sidelined because of the pandemic. This all begs the question of why Evans didn’t appear as Captain America in Rogers: The Musical–the fictional Avengers-inspired stage show featured in Marvel’s Disney+ show Hawkeye–but we’ll let that slide.
