Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem in talks to play Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Fresh off of writing and directing The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin is setting up his next feature-film at Amazon which will focus on Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Deadline has reported that Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are currently in negotiations to star in the film as Ball and Arnaz, respectively.

Being the Ricardos will take place over the course of one production week of I Love Lucy, from the Monday table read through to the audience taping on Friday, all while the pair face a crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage. Should the deal with Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem close successfully, it's still not clear when production would begin owing to the pandemic continually pushing productions back across the country. Aaron Sorkin was originally only slated to pen the script for Being the Ricardos, but after having so much fun helming The Trial of the Chicago 7, he elected to direct this one as well. The project certainly sounds as though it could be a lot of fun, especially with Sorkin's fast-paced dialogue keeping things moving forward.

Nicole Kidman has been involved in some high-profile projects over the past year, including Ryan Murphy's musical comedy The Prom as well as The Undoing, an HBO limited series in which she starred alongside Hugh Grant. Kidman recently wrapped production on The Northman, a new film from Robert Eggers that's set at the turn of the 10th century in Iceland and stars Alexander Skarsgård as Nordic prince who seeks revenge after his father is murdered. Kidman is also slated to star in Nine Perfect Strangers, a Hulu series created by David E. Kelley. As for Javier Bardem, he was recently seen in The Roads Not Taken and will next be seen in Denis Villeneuve's Dune on October 1, 2021.