Movies-turned-musicals

Heathers: The Dead Gay Musical. Today in Film Bloggery 03/12/09

By Christopher Campbell posted 8 months ago

I guess if there’s room on Broadway for John Waters, there’s room on the stage for a movie that popularized the phrase “fuck me gently with a chainsaw.” That’s right, everyone’s favorite homicidal teen comedy, Heathers, is about to be musicalized, so get ready for a choreographed number set to “Teenage Suicide (Don’t Do It),” as well as new tunes potentially titled “It Will Be Very,” “Plain or BBQ,” and, obviously, “I Love My Dead Gay Son” (director Andy Fickman has already said that last oft-quoted line has inspired some lyrics).

Of course, there seems to be new announcements of movies-turning-musicals every day. Why is this one more worthy of a Bloggery roundup than others? Because not only is Heathers one of my favorite films of all time, it’s also possibly the most sacred film ever for my buddy Monika Bartyzel (of Cinematical), who I just knew would wake up and immediately Tweet something like this: “I want to burn down Broadway and break the knees of every musical-adapting jerk out there.”

For more on her response and other bloggers’ reactions, keep reading after the jump.

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Classics

The Day Earth Shows Its Crappy Films to Space. Trade Roughage 12/12/08

By Christopher Campbell posted 11 months ago

It’s not being received well at all on Earth, but maybe the new remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still will get better reviews in Alpha Centauri, a nearby star system to which Fox is beaming the disaster sci-fi film. Despite the negative reaction here, it’s expected to gross at least $25 million, though that would be less than the last lame global warming-based sci-fi movie, The Happening, which opened to $30.5 million back in June.
The beloved holiday classic A Christmas Story has been turned into a musical, which will have industry-only readings next week. As long as there’s a musical number titled “Fra-Gee-Lay” involving a giant dancing leg lamp, I might want to attend my first Broadway Christmas production in twenty years.
Terry Gilliam, who is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dubai Internation Film Festival this week, is looking at Dubai’s new studio and for local funding to potentially shoot his revived The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in the country. I’m still crossing my fingers that this film actually works out this time.
Colombian filmmaker Andres Baiz (Santanas) will make his English-language feature debut with Babylon, a 3:10 to Yuma-like film set in Jamaica and starring Paul Giamatti as a British minister.
Summit has pushed back Rian Johnson’s The Brothers Bloom to open next May instead of next week. The distributor claims the reason was merely to pull out of an overcrowded season.