Jennifer Lopez to play mystical character in Kiss of the Spider Woman film adaptation

Jennifer Lopez will next star in a feature adaptation of the 1993 Broadway musical Kiss of the Spider Woman. The film is written and directed by Dreamgirls filmmaker Bill Condon. The Broadway musical’s adaptation film is based on a novel by Manuel Puig.

The musical is set in an Argentinian prison in 1981. Lopez would play the titular role, a fictional woman named Aurora created by Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser serving an eight-year sentence for allegedly corrupting a minor. To escape the horrors of his imprisonment, Molina imagines movies starring Aurora as a classic silver screen diva, including the role of the spider woman, who kills her prey with a kiss. Things take a turn when Molina finds company in another inmate, a Marxist, Valentin Arregui Paz. Paz is brought into Molina’s cell and the two form an unlikely bond.

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While Jennifer Lopez is on board as the fictional character, the makers of Kiss of the Spider Woman adaptationare still searching for their Molina. According to Variety, rehearsals would start in February with a plan to begin filming in April in New Jersey.

There have, meanwhile, been two adaptations of the musical – the 1993 musical, and a 1985 feature film adaptation of Puig’s novel from director Héctor Babenco. Both received wide acclaim and awards.

The musical will have Barry Josephson, Tom Kirdahy, Greg Yolen, and Matt Geller as producers of the film. Jennifer Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, and Benny Medina are executive producing on behalf of Nuyorican Productions.

In addition to this, JLo has her ninth studio album on the way. It’s called "This Is Me……Now”. It will debut early next year.