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Dustin Hoffman Directing BBC Films New Comedy 'Quartet'

by Alex Billington
March 12, 2010

Dustin Hoffman is finally set to make his directorial debut this fall with BBC Films' new comedy project titled Quartet. Both Deadline and ScreenDaily have confirmed today that Hoffman will be replacing British director Richard Loncraine on the project, which is already set to star Maggie Smith, Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay as well. The aptly named Quartet is about four retired opera singers is based on a 1999 stage comedy by Ronald Harwood, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Pianist. An Education producer Finola Dwyer is currently developing the project in LA, but the plan is to start shooting in the fall in the UK.

This explains why Dustin Hoffman dropped out of David Frankel's The Big Year yesterday. I also thought I remembered hearing that Hoffman was supposed to direct another feature, but I can't find anything on that and he doesn't have anything else list as "in development" on IMDb, so I'm not sure there is anything else. I love Hoffman as an actor and I'm curious to see what he can do behind the lens, however this project sounds excruciatingly boring. I've never cared about opera singers in real life, so why would I be interested in seeing a movie about four of them? Anyway, we'll keep you updated, as this still will be Hoffman's directorial debut.

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