Cate Blanchett will star as Lucille Ball in a biopic that’s being produced by her two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.
Aaron Sorkin will write the script, which will center on Ball’s 20-year marriage to Desi Arnaz. She eloped with the Cuban bandleader in 1940, and the two created the successful sitcom “I Love Lucy” in 1951 through their Desilu Productions.
She won four Emmys for the role. Ball also gave birth to her daughter in 1951 and to her son in 1953. Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1960, and Ball began running Desilu Productions in 1962. She died in 1989.
Jenna Block will oversee development of the project at Sony-based Escape Artists. No director or other cast is attached yet.
Blanchett has won Oscar Awards for “The Aviator” and “Blue Jasmine.” She’s starring in Todd Haynes’ romance “Carol,” which premiered at Cannes, and will be seen with Robert Redford in the Dan Rather drama “Truth,” which premieres at the Toronto Film Festival.
Sorkin wrote “Steve Jobs,” which Universal opens October 9, and recently turned in the script for Sony’s “Molly’s Game.”
