Beyonce Drops Out of Eastwood's A STAR IS BORN

Well, this is kind of a bummer.

Beyonce Knowles-Carter (gotta remember to add that "Carter" part, since she's married to Jay-Z) was all set to star in a Clint Eastwood-directed remake of A Star Is Born, but had to put the project on hold due to her pregnancy with Blue Ivy. During the break, Eastwood went off and made the baseball flick Trouble With The Curve, thinking that the timing might work out after the singer/actress was finished with her maternity leave. But Variety reports that since there's no firm start date in place, Beyonce had to drop out of the project entirely. It's a shame, because I was really interested to see how she'd work under Eastwood's direction.

The story follows a young up-and-coming singer who falls in love with a fading superstar, so it's a fairly generic premise that we've seen a bunch of times, but if Eastwood sees a story worth telling here, I'm ready to watch what he gives us. Regardless of his recent political follies, the man is a national filmmaking treasure, and I'll see anything he directs (yes, even the terrible J. Edgar).

Tom Cruise's name was once being batted around for the male lead here, along with other mega-stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Johnny Depp, and Bradley Cooper. Swingin' for the fences, eh Clint? Apparently no offers will go out to female leads to replace Beyonce until the male lead is secured, so we'll keep you posted on who ultimately ends up snagging this part.

Who would you like to see cast in both leads of A Star Is Born under Eastwood's watchful eye?