The legendary romance between two of Hollywood’s biggest icons could once again light up the big screen. A feature adaptation of the book Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century is in development, with name actors such as Angelina Jolie, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Crowe, Clive Owen, and Colin Farrel circling the two leads. Director Mike Nichols has shown interest in the project, which would be his second movie with the couple – his first film, 1966’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” starred the real-life Taylor and Burton.
The book follows the couple’s tempestuous relationship on and off screen, through marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
Critics say (of the book):
Life outdoes movie melodrama in this raucous, intimate, dual biography of Hollywood’s ultimate It Couple. As told by journalist Kashner (Sinatraland) and biographer Schoenberger (Dangerous Muse: The Life of Caroline Blackwood), the romance between the glittering Tinseltown diva and the sonorous, self-loathing Shakespearean reprises their co-starring movie roles: it has the passion of Cleopatra (the Vatican condemned their on-set adultery as erotic vagrancy), the riotous merriment of The Taming of the Shrew, the poisonous marital fights of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and a cast of thousands of paparazzi and shrieking fans. The well-researched narrative—the authors make good use of Burton’s engaging love letters and diary entries—offers juicy details of his epic alcoholism and her towering tantrums, and is fascinated with the jewelry pieces, like the Taj Mahal diamond that Taylor famously extracted from Burton as tribute or penance. But from the binges and bling emerges a revealing portrait of the magnetic qualities—her vulgar warmth, his soulful virility—that glued the couple together. Here is that rare love story that holds one’s interest beyond the wedding—and a reminder, after the thin gruel of Brangelina, of what a feast celebrity can be.
– Publisher’s Weekly
In this dual biography of the two legendary film stars, the authors draw upon new information, including interviews with Elizabeth Taylor and with the Burton family, to capture the famously passionate and tumultuous relationship between the legendary couple. Already well known for her multiple marriages when she met him, Elizabeth Taylor added fuel to the flame of her own celebrity in 1964 by embarking on an affair with her married Cleopatra leading man, Richard Burton. The two became inseparable, and their personal charisma, scandalous love affair, and tempestuous relationship captured the attention of the press and the public worldwide, giving rise to the paparazzi phenomenon. It’s a mesmerizing tale, but it’s also sad, and sometimes ugly, as the two stars engaged in vicious fights, nursed their jealousies and insecurities, and descended into alcoholism while outwardly living a life of glamour and sophistication.
– Kathleen Hughes for Booklist
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