Jennifer Lopez to Star in KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN Film — Page 13

I'm as excited and nervous as others, as I love the show. But these reviews are a pretty great start.

A solid positive from variety, and THR being mixed to positive, with plenty of pull-quote praise for the performances.

It's a shame that the score is cut into ribbons, but the musical numbers involving Lopez is getting some positive notices in some of these reviews. Tonatiuh sounds like they're a star in the making judging from the reviews and I'm glad that they are getting well deserved attention. As for the film itself, for me it's going to be a wait and see kind of movie musical; Bill Condon is certainly a hit and miss kind of director and I'm hoping that at least it's decent. Please let this not be another Nine situation.

I will say that any movie musical that has to follow up Wicked is going to be quite an uphill battle to climb out of, that's for sure.

Updated On: 1/27/25 at 01:26 PM

shomeika said: "I wonder if "Dear One" made the cut? It's amazing."



The character of Molina's Mother is not listed in the IMDB credits, so it seems unlikely it made the cut (unfortunately). Same thing with "You Could Never Shame Me".

It's gone

Why are critics even allowed to review it right now? Do they not have to wait until the movie it released? I thought showing at the festival was just to build buzz and get a distributor, not to open it up to critical review.

Does anyone have a full list of the songs that made the cut? The reviews mention several. I'm really sad we'll get none of the "over the wall" stuff, no The Day After That, etc. I hope we get some version of Anything for Him, even if it's just Aurora's part. But the more I think about it, the more I think this may have been the right choice for adapting this show to film. The best stage-to-screen adaptions aren't afraid to make significant cuts and changes in order to serve the new medium - and here, given the fantasy world is so clearly distinct from the prison world, the choice they made makes cinematic sense.

Rentaholic2 said: "Why are critics even allowed to review it right now? Do they not have to wait until the movie it released? I thought showing at the festival was just to build buzz and get a distributor, not to open it up to critical review."

Because they're public screenings that anybody could attend. There's also not any way to build buzz for the project if you shut out the press to it.

Rentaholic2 said: "Why are critics even allowed to review it right now? Do they not have to wait until the movie it released? I thought showing at the festival was just to build buzz and get a distributor, not to open it up to critical review.

Does anyone have a full list of the songs that made the cut? The reviews mention several. I'm really sad we'll get none of the "over the wall" stuff, no The Day After That, etc. I hope we get some version of Anything for Him, even if it's just Aurora's part. But the more I think about it, the more I think this may have been the right choice for adapting this show to film. Thebest stage-to-screen adaptions aren't afraid to make significant cuts and changes in order to serve the new medium - and here, given the fantasy world is so clearly distinct from the prison world, the choice they made makes cinematic sense."



I heard they found a distributor

I guess I feel pretty much the same way, but even if a number of people end up liking it, there's no way it works as any sort of counterbalance against Wicked, or proof that "good musicals" are still in demand. It isn't going to attracted anywhere near the audience that would be required to do so.

My worry is they'll want to hold onto it till the Fall in hope of award interest in Jlo and Tonatiuh...

Here's the Guardian's review. I bristle at negative comments about the music being unmemorable and not up to what they'd expect from Kander and Ebb (ie Chicago and Cabaret) I admit, I shouldn't be surprised as film critics invariably seem to say this about every modern Broadway score that isn't super well known to non theatre fans (Wicked notably got reviews that made the score out to be a classic--a sharp reversal from the initial Broadway reviews) but grrr:

" The songs themselves, from legendary Cabaret and Chicago duo Kander and Ebb, are largely rather forgettable with some often distractingly ungainly lyrics (an earworm exception is the fantastically slinky title song) "

(I wonder what lyrics he finds ungainly... Never mind that what seems to have been kept for the film are the pastiche scores where Ebb meant some of the lyrics, anyway, to stick out...)

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/27/kiss-spider-woman-movie-review-jennifer-lopez?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3QZH4VsW52_Nv5gREwTF9xmhXP3rry6-AwlEGSr7umiZALjwkboLLGjBs_aem_DBsfQgXBKuSGF_B7lFk_LA

Right. We can argue that these movies don't do justice to what from the score they include, but regardless, it seems to be all too common with movie musical adaptations of lesser known (to the mainstream) musicals. That said, I remember most critics felt that the score for Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame also were a wash when it came out, and that was an original screen work...

I spoke with the music producer, Matt Sullivan, at the premiere carpet on Sunday, and he said that three songs were "resurrected" from Purchase. More info is in my story here: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Jennifer-Lopez-Bill-Condon-More-Talk-KISS-OF-THE-SPIDER-WOMAN-at-Sundance-World-Premiere-20250128

There are also direct comments from Bill Condon and others addressing why they cut the songs they did. The article includes so many great quotes from the cast and creatives, most of which are exclusive, so I'd definitely recommend checking it out for more details about the movie.

Updated On: 1/28/25 at 08:51 PM

I watched an interview with Condon, where he says they use a Kander & Ebb trunk song for Lopez’s final number?

Robbie2 said: "Rentaholic2 said: "Why are critics even allowed to review it right now? Do they not have to wait until the movie it released? I thought showing at the festival was just to build buzz and get a distributor, not to open it up to critical review.

Does anyone have a full list of the songs that made the cut? The reviews mention several. I'm really sad we'll get none of the "over the wall" stuff, no The Day After That, etc. I hope we get some version of Anything for Him, even if it's just Aurora's part. But the more I think about it, the more I think this may have been the right choice for adapting this show to film. Thebest stage-to-screen adaptions aren't afraid to make significant cuts and changes in order to serve the new medium - and here, given the fantasy world is so clearly distinct from the prison world, the choice they made makes cinematic sense."



I heard they found a distributor"




Can I ask, where did you hear this? Source? Do you know someone who’s at the festival?