Sony Pictures has set an official release date for Quvenzhané Wallis' star turn as Annie, for December 25, 2014.

The long-in-development remake of the Broadway musical, is produced by Will Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment partners, Jada Pinkett Smith, and James Lassiter, while Jay-Z (also a producer) will score the film.

And if you missed my most recent post on this, and wondered, yes, Ms Wallis can sing! That was always the one question I didn't really have an answer for. But apparently, she can not only sing, but she can dance as well, and has range, the press release stated.

Also, the film is being overseen at Sony Pictures by none other than our man Devon Franklin and Andrea Giannetti.

So we've got a long way to go before December 25, 2014 – almost 2 years, really, to wait. Although, as studios love to do far in advance, expect some early teases, maybe later this year, when the film is scheduled to start shooting. A photo here; or even a teaser/coming soon trailer there.

While I call this Ms Wallis' most significant role (since the film that launched her career, Beasts of The Southern Wild), there's certainly a possibilty that she could be cast in something else that opens before Annie (or several other projects), such that, by the time Annie is released, mainstream awareness of her will be even broader.

Up next for Ms Wallis is a film that's already generating debate even though it won't be out till the fall, Steve McQueen's Twelve Years a Slave. She also stars in Frances Bodomo's short film Boneshaker, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last month, and is currently touring the film festival circuit.

It's a tad too early to start making projections on what kind of career she could have. As it stands, she's young, and at the stage in which most of us start to experience growth spurts. Also, from what I hear, her mother has firm control over what her daughter does, and the career choices made for her, and she's been very careful with those choices. So, I think she's in good hands. So far, she's made some good decisions for her, and it's really a matter of what's available to her, as she continues as an actress, assuming both she and her mother have plans for her to be a career actress.

But an X-mas day, and given the people behind this, Annie should open very wide, meaning millions will get to see her. I'm sure there'll be questions about how white audiences might recieve a black Annie. But, again, too early for that. Let's first get a look at what the Smiths and Sony are going for with this.