Gurinder Chadha has talked about her decision to helm the Dallas movie while in Cannes presenting a short film.

From NewKerala

While a five-minute short film made by her for a portmanteau French production "Je t'aime Paris" ("Paris, I Love You") was screened on the opening night of the Un Certain Regard section, Cannes circles are abuzz with talk of her first Hollywood studio film, a Fox-supported adaptation of the 1980s TV series "Dallas".

"'Dallas' is going to be an unadulterated fun film...When I was first approached with the proposal I had wondered why anybody would want to remake the series. Then, I saw the script and I was drawn to the project"

Chadha feels "Dallas" will essentially be a family saga.

A family saga? There's not much discussion of comedy or cheese here, and I'm wondering if we're actually starting to look at a serious adaptation. There's also a brief discussion of roles which tells us little over what we already new...

"Dallas" will have John Travolta essaying the role of Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing, while the character of his hard drinking wife Sue Ellen has gone to Jennifer Lopez. The studio is currently in talks with Shirley MacLaine and Luke Wilson for other major roles.

I'm really interested to see how this progresses, could it possibly work as a serious film without the tongue in cheek view?