Daily Mail
Nia Long joins Idina Menzel in the remake of classic 1980s Bette Midler film Beaches
By MIKE LARKIN
PUBLISHED: 21:15 EST, 16 August 2016
It is the sort of news that will doubtlessly excite movie fans tired of redundant reboots.
For it has emerged Big Momma’s House 2 favourite Nia Long has signed up to star alongside Broadway warbler Idina Menzel in the remake of Bette Midler‘s classic 80s movie Beaches .
The 45-year-old will play the uptown girl role made famous by Barbara Hershey in the comedy drama, which is being made for a reasonable budget for the Lifetime cable television channel.
As if that is not enough, Deadline revealed Idina, best known to casual audiences for singing Frozen tune Let It Go, will sing new versions of Wind Beneath My Wings and The Glory of Love.
The Broadway star was also spotted singing on set during the first day of filming the remake in Vancouver.
Both movies follow the story of two women from starkly different backgrounds, who remain fast friends through more than 30 years of childhood, love, and tragedy.
In the original, the young version of Bette’s New York actress and singer character CC become befriends a poor little rich girl named Hillary after they meet under the pier on the beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Wind beneath her wings: Beaches star Idina Menzel showed off her pipes on the first day of filming the reboot in Vancouver on Tuesday
In the remake, Idina will play an aspiring LA based singer who befriends Nia’s Hillary, who is now the daughter of a famous civil rights lawyer, after they meet at the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
The Oscar-nominated original film was a big hit when it was released in 1988, making $57 million off a budget of $20 million.
Theme song Wind Beneath My Wings, which became The Divine Miss M’s concert trademark, topped the charts and won a Grammy for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1990.
Hard act to follow: Bette Midler starred in the original film alongside Barbara Hershey
The Lifetime film is being made by A+E Studios, and as well as the standards, Idina will record additional songs for the project.
It is being produced by Crazy Stupid Love’s Denise Di Novi and If I Stay’s Alison Greenspan, while Ring Of Fire filmmaker Allison Anders is directing
Shooting began in Vancouver, Canada on Monday, and it is slated for a 2017 release.
Coast to coast: The sands of Atlantic City will be swapped for Venice in the remake