Almost Made Movie Musicals

[Stephen75]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 4:12pm

Ive been dreamcasting a lot of dream movie musicals with a friend, and it got me wondering about movie musical adaptations that were in the works or in discussions but never got off the ground. For example, Michelle Williams doing a movie version of South Pacific for Michael Mayer. Play adaptations are also welcome!

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 4:28pm

In the 90’s an all-star adaptation of INTO THE WOODS was planned. I believe there was even a reading with Cher as the Witch, Goldie Hawn as the Baker’s Wife and Robin Williams as the Baker, among many others, which I would give my left arm to see.

[Globefan]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 4:32pm

My Fair Lady written by Emma Thompson in 2012 

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 4:44pm

A modern day version of OLIVER! with Ice Cube as Fagin was announced. There were rumours that Adele would be Nancy but nothing ever came from it.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 5:24pm

Plannietink08 said: "In the 90’s an all-star adaptation of INTO THE WOODS was planned. I believe there was even a reading with Cher as the Witch, Goldie Hawn as the Baker’s Wife and Robin Williams as the Baker, among many others, which I would give my left arm to see."

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/60861/jim-henson-company-and-woods-movie-couldve-been

[Musical Master]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 5:31pm

During the roadshow era of movie musicals in the 1960's, MGM planned to make a film adaptation of She Loves Me with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in the leads but because of the constant box office and critical failures of the movie musicals in the late 60's, those plans were scrapped.

Not to mention a potential film adaptation of Follies that was planned by MGM for a 1972 release with many stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood movie musicals coming back to play the roles with Hal Prince directing the film. But that also got scrapped because of changing tastes from film audiences not interested in movie musicals anymore; but thankfully since the early 2000's, that has changed for the better.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 6:56pm

Tina Fey’s Bye Bye Birdie adaptation

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 7:03pm

Every few years, Frank Wildhorn says that a Jekyll and Hyde movie musical is in the works but there is never anything that comes of it. Would that count?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 8:12pm

There are also movie musicals that became something totally different throughout the development and shooting. For example, Judy Garland was set to star in Annie Get Your Gun before her clashes with Busby Berkley, overwork and exhaustion, and her marriage to Vincent Minnelli falling apart caused her to be fired and replaced with Betty Hutton. So the movie was still made, but it undoubtedly would have been a very different film with Garland in the lead.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 8:39pm

I think elements of the Tina Fey Bye Bye Birdie were reworked into 30 Rock and Incredible Kimmie Schmitt, with the female Albert Peterson minding boorish rapper Birdie reconfigured as Liz Lemon perpetually minding comedian Tracy.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 8:45pm

I think Disney at one point during 2006-7 considered an Aida film adaptation with Beyoncé as Aida and Christina Aguilera as Amneris. It would've been their first film adaptation of a Broadway musical but nothing has happened (I assume it was cancelled for whatever reason) and then years later, Into The Woods was the company's first (and certainly not their last) film adaptation of a Broadway musical.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 11:38pm

In the wake of Hal Prince's revisal of Candide, a film was briefly discussed with Elton John in the title role, Olivia Newton-John (pre-Grease) as Cunegonde, and Peter Sellers as Voltaire / Pangloss / etc. I think with the right director, at the height of Monty Python's fame (possibly with some of them in the cast, let's pretend), it could actually have been something.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 12:17am

A major reason Aida was cancelled was due to a shift in focus towards more light hearted material (think Lilo and Stitch/Emperors New Groove after the underperformance of Pocahontas and Hunchback)

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 8:20am

We’re still waiting for the Drowsy Chaperone movie that was teased but never happened.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 8:37am

Bloomer Girl.  See Shirley MacLaine Parker v Twentieth Century Fox (1970). 

Updated On: 7/15/21 at 08:37 AM

[KFC1991]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 10:02am

henrikegerman said: "Bloomer Girl. See Shirley MacLaine Parker v Twentieth Century Fox (1970)."

Shook that someone was going to produce Bloomer Girl as a movie with Maclaine. It didn't even run that long on Broadway.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 10:10am

AEA AGMA SM said: "There are also movie musicals that became something totally different throughout the development and shooting. For example, Judy Garland was set to star inAnnie Get Your Gunbefore her clashes with Busby Berkley, overwork and exhaustion, and her marriage to Vincent Minnelli falling apart caused her to be fired and replaced with Betty Hutton. So the movie was still made, but it undoubtedly would have been a very different film with Garland in the lead."

Judy had filmed several musical numbers before she was fired and replaced by Hutton.  Lucky these still survive.

 

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 10:12am

I seem to recall a movie of Miss Saigon was promoted to be happening in 1994 in Playbill ads.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 1:13pm

United Artists had Promises, Promises on their slate to be filmed in the early 70s. Lucie Arnaz and Neil Diamond were proposed to star.

[Globefan]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 5:35pm

Phantom with Michael Crawford and Sarah

[joevitus]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 6:25pm

Plannietink08 said: "In the 90’s an all-star adaptation of INTO THE WOODS was planned. I believe there was even a reading with Cher as the Witch, Goldie Hawn as the Baker’s Wife and Robin Williams as the Baker, among many others, which I would give my left arm to see.

"

Apart from three big mistakes--1) the horrid miscasting or at least failure to dub/partially dub James Corden, who can't hold a single note (which I'm guessing has something to do with to portions of "No One Is Alone" being cut), 2) Meryl Streep being an at-best serviceable witch, 3) with its length it really should have had an intermission, and with an intermission, the wonderful finale to the first act could have been retained--I think the movie that was made is well-nigh perfect, and easily the best movie version of any of his shows, possibly excluding West Side Story.

[joevitus]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 6:31pm

Musical Master said: "During the roadshow era of movie musicals in the 1960's, MGM planned to make a film adaptation of She Loves Me with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in the leads but because of the constant box office and critical failures of the movie musicals in the late 60's, those plans were scrapped.

Not to mention a potential film adaptation of Follies that was planned by MGM for a 1972 release with many stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood movie musicals coming back to play the roles with Hal Prince directing the film. But that also got scrapped because of changing tastes from film audiences not interested in movie musicals anymore; but thankfully since the early 2000's, that has changed for the better."

I'm pretty happy none of these happened. Blake Edwards was going to helm She Loves Me, and Darling Lili shows us how that was likely to turn out. Follies is harder to guess, but A Little Night Music shows Prince had none of the talent for film he had in such abundance for theater, and I don't think setting Follies on a movie studio backlot or soundstage really works (I don't think you can have the old-timers reproducing numbers supposedly done on film, with their ghosts mimicking them, and the idea of ex-movie stars having been forgotten and hamming up again one last time for each other just seems less likely overall that with stars in reviews like Follies/Scandals/Vanities. I mean, how can there be stage door johnnies at movie studios?).

 

Updated On: 7/16/21 at 06:31 PM

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 6:45pm

BroadwayNYC2 said: "A major reason Aida was cancelled was due to a shift in focus towards more light hearted material (think Lilo and Stitch/Emperors New Groove after the underperformance of Pocahontas and Hunchback)"

Do we think that now that Disney has put so much backing into original Disney+ content that they might throw around the idea of developing something again. We already know they have the rights to and intend to produce Once on This Island which has a similarly darker ending as Aida does. If the one does well, think it could see them finally push for the other. And if so, who among the current pop culture do we think they would get to play the roles? 

[Ke3]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 7:38pm

I'm still mourning the Amy Sherman-Palladino adaption of Gypsy. If anyone could've made an adaption that flew off the page, it would've been her.

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 7/15/21 at 8:46pm

Musical Master said: "I think Disney at one point during 2006-7considered an Aidafilm adaptation with Beyoncé as Aida and Christina Aguilera as Amneris.It would've been their first film adaptation of a Broadway musical but nothing has happened (I assume it was cancelled for whatever reason) and then years later,Into The Woods was the company's first (and certainly not their last) film adaptation of a Broadway musical."

It was supposed to be an animated movie and concept art of the characters exist online.