Oh, you know. The Julia Child movie that’s been in the works for a while now. The one starring Meryl Streep as Julia? Based on that Julie & Julia blog/book? I’m not an ET watcher, but a friend just passed along this link to a preview from the show. On that same page there’s this link to the official trailer of the film, due to open early August. Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay based on that Julie & Julia book, but also incorporated the wonderful My Life in France to reflect Julia’s early years in the country that would change her life. It’s an interesting plot line, following two different real-life stories in some sort of cinematic tandem.

The idea of anyone playing Julia Child–aside from in an over-the-top context, which her bigger-than-life personality invited–just sounded like a losing prospect from the beginning. If there’s any actress out there with enough skill and talent to pull it off, surely Meryl Streep is about as good as it’s going to get. Still, I was highly skeptical. Of course the world is full of one-of-a-kind individuals. And some have translated admirably well to film bio-pics: Ben Kingsley in Ghandi, Jamie Foxx in Ray.

But Julia Child?

I don’t know if it has to do with the fact that she is one famous person I actually spent time with on more than a few occasions, including interviewing her at her Cambridge home for a magazine article. But she just struck me as a personage who would be harder-than-average for an actor to capture.

And certainly the jury is still out. But these few minutes of preview I’ve just seen bode pretty well for how deeply Ms. Streep took on Julia’s personality and mannerisms. I’m not sure sure how much I love (the amazing) Stanley Tucci as her husband Paul, but maybe I’ll be surprised. Now we just have to wait another few months to see how it all plays out on the big screen!