Rent Vs The Producers

[GirlforTartaglia]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 5:20pm

This December, two musical movies are coming out...Rent and The Producers...which one do you think, will have more of a chance winning an Academy Award?
I have no idea!! I love my Roger, but that shouldn't bias my opinion

[shesings]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 5:24pm

I love both shows but I honestly think The Producers has a better shot at really bringing in audiences. It's a much more well-known show, and Mel Brooks is a big draw. We'll have to see if Uma butchers it or not ... everyone else seems great. I'm excited for RENT, but I'm just not sure how much the general public will get it. A lot of my folks back in Missouri don't really understand the show .....

[RumTumTugger]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 5:31pm

I haven't seen rent so I can't really say anything about it, but I saw The Producers a few weeks ago and loved it and laughed so hard! I think it has a better shot though, just from what I've heard about Rent.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 5:33pm

Maybe we'll have the same issue as the '96 Tony season with Nathan and Adam

[SamIAm]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 5:56pm

GirlforTag: An academy award in WHICH category? That makes all the difference in the world.

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 5:58pm

It's hard to judge which is more likely to win awards until we see how the film versions are handled. I'm sure all of us on this board are aware that sometimes really great and engaging stage shows just don't translate to film very well, despite the best intentions of everyone involved.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 6:11pm

and...you have to allow for the possibility that neither film will be nominated...

I'm just saying...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 6:13pm

LOL, star2b. Let's hope Adam's poor grandmother who still "to this day HATES Nathan lane because she thinks he stole the Tony" isn't still angry...

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 6:52pm

Well Mel Brooks is a well known name, and so is the Producers, so people know it is going to be funny and that draws people in. But Chris Columbus-well the name says it all but Rent is amazing and it will def. draw in Rentheads!

[Staci1818]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 6:56pm

Don't forget we'll also be seeing movies like "Memoirs of a Geisha" around the time too. If Nathan gets a nod for Producers, would it be in the same catagory as if Adam did?

[buddhaismymom]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 6:59pm

i love rent..i really do. but i think the critics might be split (like they were when the musical first premiered)...especially if they havent seen the musical or understand jonathans background. and although rent is my favorite musical ever, i can see it being seen as a bit outdated. or it could ride the successful coattails of angels in america..who knows? i could see it winning like best song...although id like to take over tyhe world
the producers on the other hand may charm the critics and will definitley bring in more people, because of all the big names involved. of course more people does not automatically mean more awards and i think the acting in rent will trump that of the producers, simply because of subject matter. although..the academy has been kinder to comedic actors lately. hm. and you have to think about acting awards..when they win the tonys youre thinking about stage presence and how they act and sound onstage. with the movies its different, you dont get that full effect. it happens, though...think catherine zeta-jones-douglas.

i guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 7:04pm

One of the things that made The Producers so great was the spoofing of SO many classic musicals.

It'll be interesting to see how they film these 'spoofs', if they do at all.

Little Old Lady Land spoofed Loveland from Follies
The cubicles as jail cells a la How to Succeed...
The "Chorus Line mirror effect" in Springtime for Hitler
Etc

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 7:52pm

RENT deals with subject matter that requires more "acting" than The Producers and it is a drama/musical which will probably garner some acadamy votes.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 8:26pm

The Chorus Line mirror effect? A CHORUS LINE didn't use a mirror that tilted over the stage so you get an arial view - alteast I do'nt remember one. That identical effect was in CABARET in "Wilkommen" - I think that's what they're spoofing.

And plus, as far as best picture nominess (first we have to see if either movie is good - let alone deserving of an Oscar nomination) - I can't see THE PRODUCERS really getting more attention than RENT. Comedies hardly ever fare well with the Academy, unless there is something deep and brilliant about them = THE PRODUCERS has neither. They always go more for the meatier material. Plus, THE PRODUCERS is more or less a remake. Has there ever been an academy award nominated/winning remake?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 8:29pm

i know it's later than the others (or came after), but 42nd Street used the mirror...

ugh, i forget the director's name, but he uses arial shots in his films (hence the mirror)

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 8:34pm

Ugh. I should be ashamed.
I know they are nothing really alike, and I know I should have my musical theatre card revoked, but I *always* seem to mix up 42nd Street and A Chorus Line.

You can all start laughing now.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 8:35pm

I think that The Producers film will be a great opportunity to spoof both musicals and movies.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 8:41pm

The mirror effect was a spoof of the old aerial precision dance shots that Busby Berkeley made popular in the '30s (the 1933 film of 42nd Street was just one of a dozen movies Berkeley choreographed that featured such a shot).

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 8:43pm

I wasn't old enough to see the Original 'A Chorus Line' but I could've sworn I read on here once that the mirror effect was used.

False information from a message board. Imagine that. So, what's going on over at the Idina/injury thread?

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 9:38pm

haha...idina is going to go to the hospital...she broke all her teeth and won't be ablt to sing ever again. she Broke her collar bone and three ribs....no one know what happened to her ribs...they are def. not broken. but she wasn't wearing a dress because her understudy needed it to finish the show!

I am making fun of the nameless person from the idina injury report

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 10:20pm

There were various mirror effects used in ACL (Robin Wagner designed ACL, The Producers AND the stage version of 42nd Street), but the mirror tilt to give the audience an "overhead view" of the turning Swastika formation was pure Busby Berkeley (there was no mirror tilt in ACL).

Updated On: 1/8/05 at 10:20 PM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 10:40pm

I expect THE PRODUCERS will be larded with movie musical refrences. "That Face" is planned as an homage to the Astaire 'Dancing on the Ceiling ' number in ROYAL WEDDING for one.

I am curious if a scene abandoned for the Broadway musical will be utilized in the film - a "Rio By the Sea-o" number set in Rio where Leo and Ulla are confronted with images of Max everywhere they turn. It became an expensive impossibility to stage, but would work much better in film - and is an homage of sorts to the "Change Partners and Dance" number in SHALL WE DANCE?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 11:37pm

Hmm...
I think itll be tough.

RENT is a great show thats been running for, I believe, over 10 years. It has a huge fan base and seems to be bouncing back box-office wise. On the downside, they have some pretty small names to headline the movie. Anothony Rapp? Adam Pascal? WJH? Idina (via Wicked) has become a huge star and hopefully people will notice her name without the words "starring in WICKED: THE MUSICAL" closely following. Taye is a pretty big Hollywood name. If he had a bigger part, this couldve been his big break. It could be Idina's big break out of the theatrical realm and into Hollywood. Ask the Dust will help her as well.

THE PRODUCERS- The biggest smash in 2000 by FAR. It broke box office records, won raves, 12 Tonys, amazing buzz, and became the first real theatrical "phenomenon" in a LOOOOOOOONG time. People literally waited for hours on end for tickets outside of the theater in freezing weather and scorchingly hot weather. It also has Nathan and Matthew to headline it and it DID have Nicole Kidman. It MAY have Uma Thurman and it (as of know) has Will Ferrell.

My money's on The Producers. I absolutley adore both shows but The Producers has the edge here, IMO. They will both fare VERY well at the box office. They just need to have a great promotional campaign and not a sloppy, rushed, blah one like TPOTO.

Hoping that they will both make smooth transitions from the theater to the big screen like Chicago.

[RumTumTugger22]

Posted: 1/9/05 at 12:23am

The PRoducer will Probably get more attention because of the mainstream stars. But RENT will be more of an academy's choice film. I justr hope Chris Columbus doesn't kill it.

[jarred03]

Posted: 1/9/05 at 2:45am

I sadly haven't seen either show, but considering what clips I've seen on the internet and songs I've heard on the recordings, I honestly think they will be even. I think that if they're both nominated for best Picture it will really depend on which one is the better picture not better show. I think Nathan would beat out Matthew or Adam, but Mark has a good shot at Supporting actor and Rosario or Idina should easily beat out Uma in best actress or supporting whatever category they land in. I undoubtedly think that "Seasons of Love" will win best song.