The remake of the classic movie "Annie" has finally cast Miss Hannigan as Cameron Diaz, MTV reports. It had been rumored for months that Sandra Bullock was the frontrunner to land the role of the "mean-spirited, often drunken matron" who was the head of the orphanage but according to People Magazine she backed out of the position.
Diaz will play alongside Quvenzhane Wallis ("Beast of the Southern Wild") who was cast as little orphan Annie and Jamie Foxx as Benjamin stack, a version of Daddy Warbuck the man who eventually rescues Annie from the orphanage. A slight name change was decided for Foxx's character because movie executives felt like kids these days would be more familiar with the meaning of "benjamin stacks" versus "warbucks." According to Urban Dictionary the term "daddy warbucks" is an extremely wealthy man or "a man who is rich enough to pay for someone else's expenses."
It was announced in January of 2011 that Jay-Z and Will Smith was teaming up to produce the remake of the movie. Originally the movie was supposed to star Smith's daughter, Willow, as Annie but she reportedly backed out. Wallis found out she was cast as the lead role in the same weekend as the Oscar's when she was announced as the youngest person ever to be nominated for Best Actress.
"She is an extraordinary young talent with an amazing range, not only as an actress but as a singer and dancer, and we can't wait for our audiences to further discover her," Columbia Pictures' Hannah Minghella said in a statement to MTV.
The movie will be set in present day and is scheduled to begin filming in the fall with a release date of Christmas 2014.
In the original 1982 film Miss Hannigan was played by Carol Burnett. Check her out in the clip below:
