Now that Les Miserables has come and gone and is living happily on DVDs & BluRays what should the next adaptation be? Wicked? Sunset Boulevard? Spamalot? The Book of Mormon? or anyother old or new stage musical I would like to see Sunset Boulevard on the big screen. The musical is great; but its sets too lavish and it's just too expensive a production that even though it had great ticket sales it never made money. A movie should be able to hold the cost down and give a great return...depending on who and how much they have to pay the actress to play Norma would be. Personally I'd like to see Barbara or Glenn Close or even Cher play the part. They are all older singers who can still belt out a song and act. Wicked, The Book of Mormon and Spamalot are equally deserving. Which musical do you think should be a movie?
I like Wicked a lot, and *love* Once (though that was a movie before Tony-winning musical, so that's out), but I think Book of Mormon has a shot to be made soon. It's been well-reviewed and made a ton of money, and there's a segment of society that'd probably go see a musical from the South Park guys that wouldn't normally go see a musical on the big screen. Another point in its favor is that Trey Parker and Matt Stone formed a production studio earlier this year. I'd imagine Book of Mormon is pretty tempting as an early project for them.
The Book of Mormon is a no-brainer green light; I'm sure whoever is in charge of the studio equation is only waiting for Stone and Parker to be ready. Ragtime was Cagney's last movie, I think, before becoming a musical, but the musical could definitely stand to be adapted. I'm also a bit surprised a transfer of the Alan Cumming Cabaret hasn't occurred by now. I think the new Disney Oz franchise is going to prevent any Wicked for the foreseeable future. Then there's always Jersey Boys and that spelling bee one. Spamalot is a no-go. Just no.
Strange. I was thinking of Sunset Boulevard as poss film musical the other day. Not sure why. Maybe because...it was a movie first! Durr. I reckon Meryl's the only one who could box office Desmond. Miss Saigon would seem an obvious follow-up to Les Mis. Equally big and bathetic. I can see Cabaret remake as maybe a high production value TV movie, and would probably work better as that rather than being opened out or Chicagoe'd. Get Fassbender in it. And let Anna Kendrick do her Sally Bowles. I read somewhere Into The Woods was being filmed? Could be interesting, as would have the whole musical/fantasy/fairytale/vfx thing going for it a la Wicked. I'd love to see another movie one day like Streets Of Fire or The Five Heartbeats. Unlikely though.
I like the INTO THE WOODS idea. And, frankly, I wouldn't mind them remaking some classic musicals that got less than sterling film adaptations in the past. MAN OF LA MANCHA maybe?
Could definitely see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson as an HBO movie. And Kendrick as Sally Bowles is definitely intriguing...
Or TV/cable adaptations of musicals that have never been done as movies, like High Spirits (the musical version of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit) or Fiorello! Not a chance those will ever be filmed, though. The only people who've even heard of those shows are my age or gay. Or both.
I'm still waiting for someone to make a top notch version of "The Magic Flute" that reflects the original opera. Kenneth Branagh's 2006 adaptation was good, but I found it's WWI setting to be misplaced Surely someone could present it in a form that reflects the original, something akin to a cross between Lord Of The Rings & A Midsummer Night's Dream
I would LOVE to see a film version of Book of Mormon. We did a production of Company when I was in college---wouldn't mind seeing an updated version made into a movie. Into the Woods is another good one.
I like the idea of an Into The Woods adaptation. Speaking of remakes, is it too early to want a remake of The Phantom of the Opera? With a Phantom that has a deformed face and can sing. Or maybe just CGI out Gerard Butler with some one who can sing add the deformities and remix the new guys singing voice in with Emmy's?
I can't even begin to start on a list of musicals that could do with doing properly *cough*Chorus Line*cough* Into The Woods to start shooting Oct?. Meryl has been mentioned as Witch, Kendrick as Cinderella. Plus Allison Janney Speaking of Kendrick, after mentioning her earlier found this curio online @ 14 singing with - cue twilight zone music - Kit Kat club singers! [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0l3WemmIjI[/yt]
Why is that? I would love to see a new movie adaptation of Camelot with Hugh Jackman as King Arthur. Man Of La Mancha could be remade, but why? The original was quite good. The reason the movie failed was because of the way it was shot and set up, and also (I think) because the big show-stopping number 'The Impossible Dream' had been overexposed and overplayed. As well, the late '60s-early '70s wasn't a great time to be making musicals or any real large movie that needed a roadshow airing, plus people were so into the counterculture that a musical like Man Of La Mancha wouldn't work for them, so that may also have affected how it was received. Then again, it could be improved upon.
I don't see how it even needs much updating. For a show that's more than 40 years old, it still seems surprisingly modern.
As evidence...Hendricks, Neil Patrick Harris. Joy. [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtwfwgXTnX8[/yt]
Because A) Holy Grail still exists, and B) Spamalot is heavily concerned with the idea of putting on a Broadway show, which the general public outside of Broadway fandom doesn't much care about.
There's just one small change in the dialogue -- "flight attendant" instead of "stewardess." The original 1968 film The Producers also centered around putting on a Broadway show -- as have countless backstage musicals from the 1930s on. As for the 2005 film of the musical version of The Producers, well, I've seen it and it simply isn't very good. I haven't seen Spamalot on stage, but from descriptions of the show, it seems that it would be difficult to translate to film. Of course, they said the same thing about Chicago.
Broadway meant a lot more to the general public in '68 (almost a half-century ago). Musical tunes used to play on radio stations nationwide, and film adaptations were much more common than they are today.