Just the other day I was having a conversation with a fellow celebrity blogger who asked, “whatever happened to the movie ‘Mama I Want To Sing'”? I joked that the movie went straight to DVD. It looks like I was right after all.
According to Brown Sista, Ciara revealed to Billboard magazine earlier this month that her new movie, Mama I Want To Sing, will not be hitting theater screens later this year, but rather will be going straight to DVD in early 2009.
While Ciara didn’t give a reason for the demise of the film, many believe the producers picked the wrong actress to play the part of Amara, the daughter who wants to sing. I love me some Ciara, but she was all wrong for that part. The part called for a real singer, not an entertainer, which is what CiCi is.
Sometimes producers and casting directors go for star power to draw movie patrons into theaters. But in this case, the film already had star power in Lynn Whitfield. ‘Mama’ required a singer who can blow. Unfortunately, Ciara falls a little bit short of that mark.
Overdubbing tracks with with another singer’s voice while the actress lip syncs is so 1930s. This is exactly what the producers ended up doing with ‘Mama’.
‘Mama’ was more than likely shown at a test screening and the audience hated it. When investors see that a movie does poorly at test screenings, they won’t put up the additional funds to get the movie into theaters.
Call me a hater, but I fully expect the new Notorious B.I.G. docudrama to also go straight to DVD.
