Barbra Streisand recently shaded Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born remake, calling the Oscar-winning film a “wrong idea.” Streisand co-starred with Kristofferson in the 1976 version of the film, which itself was a remake of a 1954 movie. During an interview with The Sunday Project this month, she opened up about her thoughts on the 2018 film, seemingly implying that she was very excited about it.
“At first, when I heard it was going to be done again, it was supposed to be Will Smith and Beyoncé, and I thought, that’s interesting,” she shared. “Really make it different again, different kind of music, integrated actors, I thought that was a great idea. So, I was surprised when I saw how alike it was to the version that I did in 1976.” After the interviewer suggested that maybe the new film was meant to pay homage to Streisand’s, prompting her to reply, “I don’t know, but I thought it was the wrong idea. Look, it was a big success. I can’t argue with success. But I don’t care so much about success as I do originality.”
Barbra Streisand, who starred in the third version of A Star Is Born in 1976, wasn’t really a fan of the 2018 remake led by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. 😬 https://t.co/GLbFNXWAjL
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) August 16, 2021
Streisand’s new comments about A Star Is Born are very different than what she initially said of it back when it was released. “Of course I’ve seen it. I loved it. I think it’s wonderful. She’s wonderful,” the iconic singer and actress told Extra of her feelings on the Gaga-starring film.
Around the same time, Cooper told Entertainment Weekly that Streisand had given her “blessing” for their version of A Star Is Born. “Everybody was so excited she was there,” he said. “We just looked at each other and were like, ‘Wow. How are we here right now?'” Gaga then added: “She was so, so kind.”
A Star Is Born (2018), which was co-scripted and directed by Cooper, went on to win the 2019 Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, that same year. The movie’s soundtrack racked up some big wins at two different Grammy awards shows, getting the trophies for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Shallow” in 2019, and then taking home the awards for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for “I’ll Never Love Again” (Film Version) in 2020.