Eight New Photos: Burlesque

Screen Gems has released the first high resolution production photo of Christina Aguilera in her live-action big screen film debut Burlesque. USA Today is calling the photo a "first look" but there have been other low res photos and set videos online in the past. Check out eight photos from the movie after the jump. I'm sure a movie trailer won't be far behind.

Steven Antin's contemporary musical tells the story of Ali, "an ambitious small-town girl with a big voice" played by Aguilera, who "tries to escape a hollow past by performing in a neo-burlesque club in Los Angeles." According to the article, here is more information about the film's plot.

Aguilera's Ali runs away from Iowa in search of fame and ends up waitressing at The Burlesque Lounge on the Sunset Strip. But not for long. "Christina really takes it all off in terms of makeup and hair for a lot of the movie," says director/writer Steven Antin. "She looks like a girl right off the farm." That is until Kristen Bell's headliner, Nikki, shows up tipsy one night and Ali must fill in. Ali helps turn what once was a lip-sync club into a singing-and-dancing revue after she displays her vocal fireworks onstage in numbers like But I'm a Good Girl. Cher is Tess, owner of a retro club who has a modern-day problem: She can't make the payments on her over-mortgaged property. Together, Ali and Tess manage to transform the Burlesque Lounge into a success. Stanley Tucci is Sean, the lounge's stage manager, a go-to guy for the gals and best friend to Tess.

The film hopes to be Moulin Rouge meets Cabaret, with established songs that will be updated and worked into dance numbers.   Cher makes her big screen return as Tess, the proprietor of the club, alongside Stanley Tucci. The film also stars a red-haired Julianne Hough, and a brunette Kristen Bell. Aguilera wrote four songs for the soundtrack and performs an Etta James oldie.

Antin wrote the script, which was later revised by Erin Brockovich scribe Susannah Grant. No mention is made of Diablo Cody's screenplay involvement in the Variety story, which makes me wonder if any of her contributions have made it to the final draft. Antin has described neo-burlesque as "a contemporary take on the traditional burlesque that derived from vaudeville, with singing, dancing, comedy and more tease than striptease." Antin's sister Robin created the burlesque troupe The Pussycat Dolls in 1995.

Burlesque is scheduled to hit theaters on November 24th 2010.