Friday’s openings: Lovers, ghosts and gangs

Above : Haley Bennett and Peter Dinklage star in “Cyrano,” which opens Friday. (Photo/MGM)

Note : This post has been updated.

It’s been nearly a century and a quarter since the play “Cyrano de Bergerac” was first staged in Paris.

Written by Edmond Rostand, the work – which is based on a real person – was originally intended to be performed in verse (“rhyming couplets of 12 syllables per line,” as Wikipedia tells us.)

But that hasn’t stopped dramatists and filmmakers in the intervening years from adapting the basic story to fit their own needs. And consequently, that story – of big-nosed Cyrano, using his poetic prowess to help a younger, handsome man court the woman of Cyrano’s dreams – has endured.

The latest version, titled simply “Cyrano,” will open on Friday. It stars Peter Dinklage as the title character, with Haley Bennett as Cyrano’s love Roxanne and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as the younger, handsome Christian.

Other openings include “Studio 666” and, in select theaters, “The Godfather 50 Years.”

“Cyrano” : The title character, played by the diminutive Dinklage, contains his love for the young Roxanne by helping Christian write poetic love letters. It’s a musical version, and the best news is that it’s directed by Joe Wright .

Leah Greenblat t of Entertainment Weekly wrote, “Almost every shot is framed like a Renaissance painting, and the songs, by members of indie-rock stalwarts the National, have an earnest, orchestral tunefulness.”

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, “Wright – whom I consider one of the medium’s most visionary craftsman – has outdone himself in devising original, cinematically innovative ways to stage the film.”

“The Worst Person in the World” : Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier explores the story of a young woman’s coming of age and the relationships she forges along the say. Oscar-nominated both for Original Screenplay and Foreign Language Feature.

Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote, “Even at its most fanciful, ‘The Worst Person in the World’ stays grounded in what it means to be human.”

“Butter” : Alex Kersting stars as a young man who decides to eat himself to death but then who has second thoughts. Written and directed by Paul A. Kaufman from the novel by Erin Jade Lange.

John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, “Adapting Erin Jade Lange’s YA novel of the same name, the pic benefits from a likeable cast, albeit one whose middle-of-the-road flavor isn’t ideal for a premise that screams for black comedy or otherwise edgy treatment.”

“Studio 666” : In what seems like a vanity project for the rock group Foo Fighters, the group moves into what turns out to be a haunted mansion in hopes of recording a 10th album. Things get eerie. No reviews are available, which is never a good sign.

“The Godfather 50 Years” : Director Francis Ford Coppola oversaw the restoration of his original 1972 adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel. The process included some 1,000 hours of color correction, work on the sound and a total of 4,000 hours repairing individual film frames.

The film, of course, tells the story of the Corleone family, father Vito (Marlon Brando) and his three sons, Sonny (James Caan), Fredo (John Cazale) and Michael (Al Pacino) as they struggle to hold their territory against an interloper (Al Lettieri) and the heads of the other New York Mafia families.

“The Godfather” is ranked No. 3 in the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time (behind “Citizen Kane” and “Casablanca,” in that order).

I’ll update as the week progresses.