In the Film Adaptation in Your Mind. . .- Page 2

[Showface]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 8:32pm

This was a post of the "double" type/kind.
Updated On: 10/2/14 at 08:32 PM

[CurtainsUpat8]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 8:41pm

How about a decent film of A Little Night Music? It's the worst movie of a great musical ever. Maybe LaMancha comes second.

[Showface]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 8:47pm

I've never seen the A Little Night Music film. CurtainsUpat8, how would you do that film? Since that is the million dollar question of the thread.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 9:00pm

That's a neat way for "Sally" to be blank faced, but Loveland IS a surreal breakdown with all four of them, so I think both could work either way. Not to mention the restoration of the WTH ending of the 1971 production where we just see the main four and their ghosts, but no one is there. Was it all a nightmare or was the reunion real at all?

Can you imagine a film version with Darren Aronofsky's direction, Josh Rhodes' choreography, Colleen Atwood's costumes, John Myhre's sets and Dion Bebe's cinematography? I think I can. :)

With that said, which idea was your favorite?

Updated On: 10/2/14 at 09:00 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:46pm

Always wanted to see Once on This Island as a big-budget animated feature.

[Showface]

Posted: 10/5/14 at 5:08pm

I keep trying to imagine how a Pippin film would work...I think it may be too theatrical.

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 10/5/14 at 5:27pm

A little night music seems such an obvious show for a movie and the recent broadway revival had two female leads that could have done the show credit on film and help sell the movie to the public too

[Showface]

Posted: 10/12/14 at 3:52pm

BUMP

Because I really liked what I heard.

"The build-up to Loveland to be a subtle thing, where the theater slowly cracks and becomes brighter due to the full moon being out that night. "

I like that...alot actually. To bounce off of your idea:

Could I Leave You would take place on the roof of the the theater where Phyllis finds Ben and he tells her "All I want from you is a divorce"

Then, Sally and Buddy will show up on the roof also, starting the "argument" leading up to Loveland

All the while the full blue moon is appearing and rising more clearly. Finally the light from the moon shines upon them, and they hear the music from the stage (indicating that some transformation into Loveland happened).

They are drawn to this music, and they can't help it, they are almost hypnotized by it. They walk down to the stage in this hypnotic state, and then they see Loveland.

We see the Loveland number, and then finally we see all of the Vaudeville-esque numbers we all love!



Updated On: 10/12/14 at 03:52 PM

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/30/14 at 5:02pm

BUMP

Any ideas of a dream film adaptation of ASSASSINS? It could work if it's done right.

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

Posted: 10/31/14 at 11:30am

Someone once posted their idea of a screen adaptation online (linked below for your possible pleasure). I don't know the guy personally, but while I think it's a good effort, it also shows why Assassins would make a horrible film. It's a very theatrical piece the way it's written originally (i.e., as a stage revue), bending the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream. When you try to add material to what was already there to make it work on film, it feels clunky. This reads like a cross between Cabaret and Pippin, with some Assassins thrown in.

Nonetheless, here is the screenplay.

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/31/14 at 11:36am

I can see Assassins on film only as something feeling akin to American Horror Story- the rules don't exist, you can see the wires, everything is willfully rickety and surreal.

[Starship]

Posted: 10/31/14 at 2:19pm

Honestly, Tim Burton directing Ragtime could be interesting.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 10/31/14 at 2:57pm

^Why do you think so?

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/31/14 at 3:39pm

I'd like to see a film adaptation of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring:

Hugh Jackman as Lawrence
Justin Timberlake as Freddy
Anne Hathaway as Christine
Kevin Kline as Andre
Megan Mullally as Muriel
Kelly Clarkson as Jolene

[Musical Master]

Posted: 10/31/14 at 3:54pm

I just finished reading the fan screenplay of ASSASSINS and I have a good amount of problems with it. I'll start off with the good.

1. I really appreciate the fact that this person took the time to write a screenplay of what might be one of Sondheim's most difficult musicals to be a film medium.

2. I really like the updates (like one or two new assassins and adding 9/11) that are used to accentuate the dark cynical point plus using a documentary as a framing device.

3. The bizarre surreal moment when The Proprietor was really Charles Guiteau in disguise.

But the PRETTY BAD parts outshine the potential good.

1. Some scenes drag WAY TO LONG between songs, this bothered me especially after "Unworthy of Your Love" and "The Ballad of Guiteau". The pacing of it could make or break a musical film (other than the execution and a cast), the script could need some SERIOUS trimming.

2. Way to many characters added. What was my favorite aspect of ASSASSINS is that there is a limited number of them and we can keep up and follow along in their stories, but the two new ones in this script would've been enough. Plus adding the terrorists as characters feels cumbersome and pointless, in fact they should only be IMPLIED and not seen.

3. Some of the songs are staged in a erratic, clunky way. Seriously this makes NINE look like FIDDLER ON THE ROOF by comparison. The idea for "Another National Anthem" is bewilderingly stupid that it feels like a rip off of TOMMY and SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER, and UNCUT, and not something that fits naturally with Sondheim's music and lyrics at all.

4. I really don't care for "Something Just Broke"... It feels like it stops the musical cold for you to care and while the concept of it in this script feels like it could work; it ends up being like an EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE feeling, and it's not a natural feeling of emotion.

5. I would love an ending that despite all of the work the characters had done, they STILL FAIL when they see that people can recover and move on with their lives. Of course it defeats the purpose of the "Finale" but it would be cool to see that.

6. Speaking of the "Finale", why oh why did the add the American Anthem songs in the end? I understand that it's supposed to leave audiences with goose-bumps but it feels forced and unnecessary. The little "production credit" at the end is laughably bad.

I guess that it will become one of the projects that won't translate as well to film, but with the right cast, the right director and the right writer, it could prove something wicked, hilarious, dark, heartbreaking, surreal, and reeking with controversy, that it may end up as a musical film for the ages.

But yet, we already have Steven Sondheim's songs and John Weidman's original 1990 book to thank for that.



Updated On: 10/31/14 at 03:54 PM

[DigificWriter]

Posted: 11/1/14 at 2:13am

I was listening to Love Never Dies again today, and would really like to see a film adaptation of it made, but in order to make things work, I'd have to change Christine's date of death as seen on her tombstone (making it 1880 as opposed to 1917).

Everything else would play out the same as it did, leading directly to an adaptation of LND featuring several of the same cast members from the 2004 Phantom film:
Gerard Butler as The Phantom
Emmy Rossum as Christine
Patrick Wilson as Raoul
Miranda Richardson as Mdme. Giry
Jennifer Ellison as Meg Giry

The new key roles - Squelch, Fleck, Gangle, and Gustav - would be filled by Christian Borle, Vanessa Hudgens, Eddie Redmayne, and Keir Edkins-O'Brien.

Story-wise, the LND adaptation would use a combination of both the original and rewritten librettos, using the structure of the rewritten libretto, but with the "Prologue" and "Only for Him" sequences reinserted.

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

Posted: 11/1/14 at 8:55am

^ You do have a soft spot for the underdogs, don'tcha?

Since you came to the thread, DfW, you might be interested to know that I once wrote a fan screenplay of J&H. It drew (in large part) from the stage directions and imagery of the pre-Broadway stage draft dated December 6, 1996. Knowing Bricusse's work for film, I wonder if he didn't write this draft with one eye on the silver screen, given the quality of the material. As for the plot and score elements, as stated before, mine were a mix of FCLO and Resurrection, which I think is frankly the direction the recent 2012 tour/revival should have gone in. Lightly revised FCLO, but with all the songs and dialogue from the Resurrection recording carefully inserted, was the way my screenplay basically worked. It's a lovely little potboiler -- graphic killings, a lot of blood, sexuality, a moral at the last minute, all the elements of an 1880's penny dreadful dressed up for the screen, with some terrific music to tie it all up.

I should find it...

[JRybka]

Posted: 11/1/14 at 9:48am

If they ever did a Once On This Island musical adaption.... it would have to be done with a new style of animation. Not a traditional disney style.... Something really stylized.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 11/29/14 at 4:37pm

^An animated adaptation of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND would be perfect.

I just had some interesting thoughts about a potential SUNSET BOULEVARD adaptation; here's some of them.

1. Whenever Joe sings his narration, the action (except for Joe) either freezes or sings with his mind but there's another moment where there's one exception (which I'll get to in a bit).

2. Cut "Surrender", "Boy Meets Girl", "The Lady's Paying", "New Ways to Dream" (Norma and Cecil reprise), and the "Sunset Boulevard" reprise.

3. During the "Final Scene" have Joe make Betty realize of the idiocy of their love, return to Artie and have a career while he can have the life he ALWAYS wanted. Make Betty disgusted than sad and to leave the mansion WISER.

4. In the last confrontation of Norma and Joe have Norma say "It isn't true! Max!" and Max saying "Madame is still the greatest star of them all". Which Norma makes fun of Joe.

5. During the "when he scorned me" moment in the finale, the action freezes and Norma talks to us, she implies that she's been playing Joe and those around her as fools by acting crazy, meaning she's kept her sanity all this time (she knows she's washed up but hides it from those around her, even Max), she's acting as she always did.

6. During the "With One Look" finale reprise, the entire screen goes dark except for some studio lights on Norma and turns black and white, she reaches for the camera like Gloria Swanson in the 1950 film and with that, the film ends.

EDIT: If you're wondering what was up with idea #5, I always loved the idea of turning Norma from sympathetic crazy woman to something of a great Femme Fatal, someone who knew that her career died in 1930 but has power to do anything to get it back. Updated On: 11/29/14 at 04:37 PM

[Showface]

Posted: 11/29/14 at 4:54pm

I haven't seen Sunset Boulevard, but I have an idea of it:

It seems that Joe does frequent narration...I say cut it unless, it is THAT necessary.

"Cut "Surrender", "Boy Meets Girl", "The Lady's Paying", "New Ways to Dream" (Norma and Cecil reprise), and the "Sunset Boulevard" reprise. "
I'm guessing that these songs slowed down the action? Then, I agree . . . cut it.

"During the "Final Scene" have Joe make Betty realize of the idiocy of their love, return to Artie and have a career while he can have the life he ALWAYS wanted. Make Betty disgusted than sad and to leave the mansion WISER."

I agree with this change because there seems like a reason for the change, and it could work.

" During the "when he scorned me" moment in the finale, the action freezes and Norma talks to us, she implies that she's been playing Joe and those around her as fools by acting crazy, meaning she's kept her sanity all this time (she knows she's washed up but hides it from those around her, even Max), she's acting as she always did. "

Hmm, well, I'm not sure about Norma talking to the audience and revealing her true intentions. One thing that seems to be an iconic moment/highlight of the story is when Norma hurls into insanity, and I think this moment was shot perfectly in the original film.

"During the "With One Look" finale reprise, the entire screen goes dark except for some studio lights on Norma and turns black and white, she reaches for the camera like Gloria Swanson in the 1950 film and with that, the film ends."

I say cut the "With One Look" reprise, and just end it similar to the original film, but have it turn to Black and White when Norma has really gone crazy, and thinks she is on a film set. (I think that's what happens...again I have not seen it in it's entirety).

[Musical Master]

Posted: 11/29/14 at 5:34pm

@Showface, yes these songs did slow down the show and it felt cluttered. "Boy Meets Girl" could've been just a dialogue scene.

I think it's my love for femme fatal characters that inspired the idea for a new Norma but I guess I see your point. But it would be cool to have her controlling the strings and we didn't know it.

[jiff]

Posted: 12/2/14 at 2:10pm

I would love to cast Diana Ross and John Legend in Sunset Boulevard.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 12/2/14 at 2:31pm

I have had my Hollywood-cast film remake of FORUM for years. Lol. I also have an idea for the concept but it's too involved for me to put into words and have it make sense...

Anyway,
Jim Parsons as Pseudolus
Neil Patrick Harris as Hero
Kristen Bell as Philia
Steve Martin as Marcus Lycus
Hugh Laurie as Hysterium
Judy Kaye as Domina
James Marsden as Miles Gloriosus

I have no clue who would make a good Senex and Erronious, unfortunately. I would love to hear your ideas.

[Starship]

Posted: 12/3/14 at 1:22am

Ragtime directed by Tim Burton and staring:

Julianne Moore as Mother
Michael Fassbender as Father
Hugh Jackman as Tateh
Tracie Thoms as Sarah
Idris Elba as Coalhouse Walker, Jr.
Victor Garber as Grandfather
Zac Efron as Younger Brother
Emma Stone as Evelyn Nesbit
Dianna Ross as Sarah's Friend
James Marsden as Houdini







Updated On: 12/3/14 at 01:22 AM

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 12/3/14 at 2:31am

If we ever got a film of RAGTIME, I'd love to see Lindsay Lohan at Evelyn Nesbit, if anything for sheer novelty.

I also wish that animated version of AIDA with Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera happened.

My pipe dream is a Rob Marshall-directed KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN starring Naya Rivera as Aurora. Whether it's a film or on stage, either way.

Also, an animated version of SEUSSICAL. Both THE GRINCH and HORTON HEARS A WHO were successful for Universal. I think the audience is there.