Nicole Kidman and 'The Hours' Pulitzer Prize winning writer Michael Cunningham are reportedly teaming up again, in a new movie about Dusty.

Cunningham announced on Monday at the 2008 PEN gala at the Museum of Natural History  that he's started writing the screenplay about  Dusty, who he says "is clearly going into history with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones,".

The film will follow Dusty's rise to fame, as well as her problems with drugs and alcohol and her battle with psychological issues. Cunningham hopes to show "the real Dusty, a great artist who no one knew what to do with," according to the Daily Mirror.

 

Comment: Having a highly respected writer behind a Dusty biopic is encouraging. If this project ever makes the screen we can hope for an intelligent telling of Dusty’s story. I have always dreaded a “tabloid” depiction of her life.

While I don’t see how Nicole Kidman can look like Dusty, at least she is a serious actress, and that is another necessity in the telling of Dusty’s story. Whoever finally plays Dusty on the big screen must resist the temptation to sing. Only with Dusty Springfield’s own, unique voice will an audience ever understand her impact.