Can an old dog like George Strait compete with a young pup like Miley Cyrus? We'll soon find out, because the country music A-lister is set to star in a follow-up to his 1992 film 'Pure Country' for Warner Bros., according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter.'A Pure Country Gift' will be directed by Christopher Cain, who helmed the first film, as well as 1988's 'Young Guns' and 2007's 'September Dawn.' He co-wrote the new screenplay with his son, Dean Cain,of 'Lois & Clark' fame. This is their first collaboration, although Dean had a role in the first film, and both father and son are voicing parts in the animated film 'Firedog,' set for a December 2010 release date.
Chris Cain notes that 'Country Gift' isn't a sequel, but rather "a movie in the 'Pure Country' genre." The story follows three angels who give the gift of a beautiful singing voice to a baby girl, but all doesn't go well on her journey to fame and fortune. "She breaks some of the angels' rules, so they take away her big voice," Cain. "Life has rules; if you follow them, life works. That's the moral of the story."
Country singer Katrina Elam, 20, will make her acting debut in the lead role. Playing the character as a 9-year-old is Kaitlyn Dorff, daughter of Steve Dorff, who composed the music for both 'Pure Country' and the new film.
You have to wonder how a movie like this will fare against the acting-singing-merchandising wonder that is Miley Cyrus. And are enough people familiar with the original movie to flock to theaters to see a followup?
Let's look at the numbers. 'Pure Country' was produced by Jerry Weintraub for $9 million and earned $15 million at the domestic box office. In comparison, Cyrus' 'Hannah Montana: The Movie' -- about a superstar who gets back to her Tennessee roots -- had a budget of $30 million and grossed nearly $80 million at the domestic box office in 2009.
Will the "King of Country" hit paydirt or will he just be travelin' down a long, lonesome road?
Reader Comments (2)
adele at 8:09AM on Nov 16th 2009
First of all, George only has a very small part in the movie. He's not "competing" with anyone...Second, my understanding is that this is a TV movies and not going to be in theaters.
John at 11:45PM on Nov 16th 2009
Pure Country came out in '92? You must be right because I have it on VHS somewhere. Now I'm feeling old. Regardless of the numbers, I really enjoyed the movie. I also own Hannah Montana: The Movie on DVD and I will be supporteing Miley Ray in April by going to her upcoming movie 'The Last Song'. It would make me happy if more Country stars made more movies.