
Amazon has released the full-length trailer for Being the Ricardos, the upcoming film starring Oscar winners Nicole Kidman as screen icon Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem as Cuban-American star and Ball’s then-husband Desi Arnaz.
The film is both written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, the acclaimed Social Network and West Wing screenwriter making his third film as director, following Molly’s Game and The Trial of the Chicago 7. With 2015’s fantastic Steve Jobs, Sorkin used three iconic Apple product launches as the narrative framing to explore the Apple co-founder. Here, he offers a look at Ball and Arnaz through the framing of one critical production week of Ball’s groundbreaking sitcom, I Love Lucy.
The trailer is promising, with Kidman looking to put in strong work in the part. While some fans may debate as to how close Kidman gets to their memory of Ball, Ball and Arnaz’s real-life daughter, Lucie Arnaz, completely approves. Sharing her thoughts in an Instagram video in October, she had the following to say of Kidman’s performance:
“Nicole Kidman became my mother’s soul. She crawled into her head. I don’t know how you do that. She cared very deeply about this part – it shows. And I believed everything she said. She looks beautiful. Thank God they didn’t do exact lookalikes – I couldn’t have taken it.”
Being the Ricardos, also starring Jake Lacy, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, and Alia Shawkat, will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video from December 21st. In the US, the film will have a theatrical run from December 10th.
