Miley Cyrus could have played Beezus

According to a recent Variety article Miley Cyrus was in contention to play the role of Beezus in the film Ramona and Beezus. Negotiations broke down, and ultimately the part was taken by Selena Gomez:

But studio co-topper Rothman had his own concerns. He refused to greenlight the movie for a dollar more than $15 million, and he wanted a star for one of the leads. Allen and the producers wanted the then largely unknown Selena Gomez for the role of Beezus, but Rothman had set his sights on Miley Cyrus. The "Hannah Montana" star's camp sought a $5 million payday for 25 days of work, and when negotiations broke down, the project was again in jeopardy.

Gabler is quick to shoot down any perception that "Ramona" -- Fox's most modestly budgeted film this year -- faced resistance from her bosses. She says all were in agreement about the need to bring a cultural relevancy (i.e., a thesp with a tween following) to a property nearly a half century old.

"We needed to have a way to get young girls all the way up into their teens excited about ("Ramona")," says Gabler, who, thanks to her track record at Fox 2000 with such hits as "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "The Devil Wears Prada," enjoys wide latitude. "You can make a movie for a low budget, but if no one has a burning desire to go and see it in the theater, it doesn't matter what the budget was. I wanted it to have a shot commercially."

Gabler and the team caught a break when Gomez, another Disney Channel star with a music career on the side, began finding breakout success in her own right. The studio quickly struck a deal before her quote skyrocketed into the Cyrus sphere, and the project was back on the fast track. With his marketing team insistent that the film could be sold to the target audience of girls 6 to 12 years old, Rothman -- the father of two daughters who were both rabid fans of the "Ramona" books -- gave his blessing to the project.

Check out the full article at Variety.

Ultimately I think its probably a good thing that Miley didn't end up with the role. It wasn't a starring role, and the film hasn't been a hit at the box office, so I don't think Miley missed out on anything by not being in the movie.