If you think that celebrity junkies go nuts over “Bennifer,” wait until you get a sense of the stardom and adoration that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had at their height courtesy of a new film by Aaron Sorkin, Being the Ricardos. The first trailer for Being the Ricardos was shared via Twitter by Amazon Studio, who will release the film first in theaters on Dec. 10 and then on Amazon Prime Video on Dec. 21.
Maybe you don’t recognize the name Lucille Ball right away (fair guess for some millennials and Gen Zers), but I’d be willing to bet you’re at least aware of the show I Love Lucy. The landmark sitcom starred Ball and her real-life husband Arnaz as married couple Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The series made Ball arguably the biggest star of her time, as Nicole Kidman, who is playing Lucy, narrates in the trailer, stating that she is the “biggest asset” at CBS and a number of other companies that sponsored the show.
Watch the first trailer for Being the Ricardos below.
The official logline of Being the Ricardos, according to IMDb, is: “Following Lucy and Desi as they face a crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage.”
In addition to Kidman, the film will star Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz, as well as Nina Arianda and J.K. Simmons as I Love Lucy’s Ethel and Fred, Vivian Vance and William Frawley, respectively. Also on board with the cast is Jake Lacy (White Lotus), Alia Shawkat (Search Party, Arrested Development), Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development) and Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
Aaron Sorkin, best known for creating the popular TV series The West Wing and The Newsroom and winning an Oscar for his The Social Network script, both wrote and will direct Being the Ricardos. This is Sorkin’s third directorial outing, following 2017’s Molly’s Game and 2020’s The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Again, Being the Ricardos will be released first in movie theaters on Dec. 10 before becoming available to stream on Amazon Prime Video just in time for Christmas on Dec. 21. Obviously, an Amazon Prime account will be needed to stream the film.
