Anyone wondering if that long planned Spring Awakening film may get off the ground?

[ATerrifyingAndImposingFigure]

Posted: 6/16/22 at 5:19pm

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard a peep on it, but with all the attention the show’s been getting lately, I wondered if they might try to get it moving forward again. I feel like the show may struggle in transferring to the screen, but I’d certainly be interested if the project ever actually came to fruition.

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/16/22 at 5:54pm

Even if there is anything in the planning stages, it would suffer the same as the current "Sunset Blvd" movie musical trying to get to the big screen. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/16/22 at 5:54pm

No, but weirder things have happened.

Considering most of the recent musicals haven't done well at the box office or with the Oscars in major categories, I don't know that anyone's going to be rushing to make an R-rated musical about teens f'king. HBO or Netflix feel like the most natural homes, but they're both slashing spending right now. I wouldn't get my hopes up. It would need a major (and financially-successful) auteur filmmaker or producer to make it happen.

I don't even know who holds the rights for a film as of now, or if they reverted back to Sheik & Sater.

Updated On: 6/16/22 at 05:54 PM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 6/16/22 at 6:57pm

At this point, I think any streaming service would be the perfect place for this project to become a reality.

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 6/16/22 at 9:09pm

Thank the lord the McG-directed version never came to fruition! 

[Fan123]

Posted: 6/16/22 at 11:31pm

If it did happen, I think casting would be a challenge for such a film. Aren't the characters meant to be aged about 14 or so? Film is generally a more realistic medium; casting 20 year olds would likely make it seems as though the story is literally about 20 year olds, which I don't think would work. But I also don't think anyone would want real-life 14 year olds, or even those slightly older who realistically look 14, to be cast in this.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/17/22 at 12:29am

This is a deeply theatrical piece, and Hollywood would absolutely ruin this. You’d need an unbelievably strong director and screenwriter who were allowed some wiggle room to actually do their jobs properly.

Don’t even get me started on casting. Maybe just leave this one for the stage.

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/17/22 at 9:08am

If I were an exec on the board for this film, I’d have two stylistic touchstones: Euphoria and the film version of Tommy. Embrace the high contrast between gritty ugly realness and psychedelic fantasy. And don’t worry about making the musical nature of the piece work consistently. Have musical numbers, have underscores, have some major pop artists of the day arrange and record some of the songs for some of the sequences instead. Go full Tommy on it- maybe even let individual music video visionaries work on specific numbers. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 6/17/22 at 4:51pm

darquegk said: "If I were an exec on the board for this film, I’d have two stylistic touchstones: Euphoria and the film version of Tommy. Embrace the high contrast between gritty ugly realness and psychedelic fantasy. And don’t worry about making the musical nature of the piece work consistently. Have musical numbers, have underscores, have some major pop artists of the day arrange and record some of the songs for some of the sequences instead. Go full Tommy on it- maybe even let individual music video visionaries work on specific numbers."

This is exactly the way it would need to go. The writing of the musical already sort of does this anyway with the juxtaposition of the modern score with the period script and setting, film would just be able to take it to the next level. This is a case where Rob Marshall's "fantasy/all in the head" sequences would be justified (not that I'm advocating for him to be anywhere near this project if it should actually happen)

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/17/22 at 5:21pm

The Duncan Sheik demo of "I Believe" sounds like it's a Kanye West song just waiting for his rap chorus to drop; if he weren't so volatile I'd want to hear his take and reimagining for the soundtrack. That, Kacey Musgraves for "Mama Who Bore Me," Olivia Rodrigo for "The Dark I Know Well" and Billie Eilish for "Whispering."

[UrNotAMachine]

Posted: 6/17/22 at 7:26pm

Honestly, ever since the Deaf West production, I've felt as though the movie should be an adaptation of that particular staging. Setting the film at a school for the deaf in the 1800s just so effectively amplifies all the themes. I'd love to see that version (maybe even with pop stars performing as the students' inner monologues)

In any event, I think the film is an extreme long-shot because studios would see it as too vulgar for the teen audiences they would need to market toward, and the creators would be (rightfully) averse to toning it down. "Totally F*CKed" alone would give it an R rating.

Updated On: 6/17/22 at 07:26 PM

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 6/17/22 at 10:09pm

My dream film adaptation of SP would’ve been written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell

[ATerrifyingAndImposingFigure]

Posted: 6/18/22 at 1:18am

thirtythirtyninety said: "My dream film adaptation of SP would’ve been written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell"

I’m listening...