Lately, it seems like Lifetime movies based on famous people's lives are synonymous with disaster, following a series of mishaps that have included a film about Dustin Diamond's life (best known for his role as Screech on "Saved by the Bell"), another about Whitney Houston, a film about Brittany Murphy's life and one about Aaliyah - so why is the high-profile Grace Kelly biopic to be screened in Lifetime?
The Grace Kelly biopic, released last year in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in the South of France (very near Monaco, where the Alfred Hitchcock blonde became a princess more than half a century ago), stars Nicole Kidman as Kelly, Tim Roth as Prince Rainier and Spanish actress Paz Vega as Maria Callas.
According to Hollywood Reporter, the Grace Kelly biopic deals a period in the princess' life where Monaco was in the midst of a taxes battle with neighboring country France.
The film was critically panned upon its release, and the Weinstein Co., which had first programmed the released of the Grace Kelly biopic for March 2014, has now decided to give the film a television release instead, airing it on Lifetime.
Time Magazine reports that the release of the Grace Kelly biopic, "Grace of Monaco," has been tortuous to say the least; it was supposed to hit theaters in the fall of 2013 before the announcement of its spring 2014 release, then critically panned at Cannes and ultimately the director Oliver Dahan (best known for directing Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in the performance that gave her an Oscar) fought with the Weinstein Company over the film's final cut.
Deadline reports that it's still unclear which of the Grace Kelly biopic cuts will be used in the television release.
For now, the airdate of Grace Kelly's biopic has been announced: Memorial Day 2015, May 25.
