Rumours of a My Fair Lady remake have been going around for the past year or so, but so far we’ve not had any positive news that things are moving forward on this project. But this morning Variety has announced that John Madden is in talks to direct the classic musical.

Madden is more than up for the task of directing a remake of this classic. He’s currently finishing up production on Helen Mirren starrer The Debt, but other films under his belt include, Mrs Brown, Shakespeare in Love and Captain Correlli’s Mandolin.

There’s been no official castings yet, but Kiera Knightley has been hotly tipped to play the part of Eliza Doolittle.

For those worried this will end up being a ‘god-forbid’ modern day retelling of the classic, fear not. It will apparently be more in line with the original play it’s based on – George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion – than on the 1964 Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison film.

To even further prove it’s integrity, it will retain it’s original score and 1912 setting, in the original London locations… Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Tottenham Court Road, Wimpole Street and Ascot racecourse.

I’m really happy about this news. It’s not often you get a remake of a classic like My Fair Lady that hasn’t been ‘modernised’ in some way. Should Keira Knightly get the part of Eliza though? She’s got a bit of an Audrey Hepburn look about her, but if this is moving away from the Hepburn version, should they find someone else?