On the television screen, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz may be the funniest couple that America fell in love with. However, when the cameras are off, their story tells a different side of things as it’ll be portrayed in the upcoming Aaron Sorkin drama Being the Ricardos.

Amazon Studios announced the start of principal photography on the biopic based on the funniest couple from the 1950s I Love Lucy.

The story revolves around one production week of the sitcom from a Monday table read through the Friday live studio audience filming. The couple faces a crisis that may end their careers and another that may end their marriage.

The drama has an all-star cast with Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz. Also, it stars J.K. Simmons as William Frawley and Nina Arianda as Vivian Vance. The rest of the cast includes Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, Clark Gregg, Nelson Franklin, John Rubinstein, Linda Lavin, Robert Pine, and Christopher Denham.

“Being the Ricardos is a drama about the people behind the making of television’s most famous comedy,” said Aaron Sorkin in a statement. “I’m looking forward to working with Nicole, Javier, J.K., Nina, and the rest of our great cast.”

Sorkin penned the screenplay and also directs it. It marks Sorkin’s third film as a director after Molly’s Game and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

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“My brother Desi and I signed on because this is a story of our folk’s real-life passionate, tempestuous and complicated relationship and not a recreation of I Love Lucy—no one could do that,” stated executive producer Lucie Arnaz. “We felt exploring that relationship could be an enlightening challenge. Instead, [Sorkin’s] chosen to illuminate a snippet of time during an incredibly tense period of their show’s enduring success.”

No release date has been announced at this team.

Source: Amazon Studios