Marianne Elliot hopes to make a COMPANY film

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/5/24 at 11:19pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Tony-Winner-Marianne-Elliott-Is-Hoping-for-A-COMPANY-Film-20240905
We’ve been hearing about possible Company and Follies films for years, so I do take this with a grain of salt, but it would definitely be exciting. 

 

[binau]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 3:32am

Would love Patti to reprise her role. 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 9:12am

Movie Bobbi brainstorm.

 

Bankable stars in their 30's.

• Scarlett Johansson
• Jennifer Lawrence
• Margot Robbie
• Kristen Stewart
• Emma Stone 

Women who've starred in recent movie musicals

• Melissa Barrera
• Cynthia Erivo 
• Ariana Grande 
• Anna Kendrick

 

Updated On: 9/6/24 at 09:12 AM

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 9:17am

I never knew how badly I want to see Emma Stone as Bobbie but now I can’t get that casting out of my head. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 10:01am

What makes you guys think the central character will be Bobbi rather than Bobby?

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 10:06am

Movie Jamie brainstorm

Actors who played him on stage

• Jonathan Bailey
• Matt Doyle
• John Arthur Greene (Broadway understudy)
• Matt Rodin (tour)

Out artists, age appropriate

• Charlie Carver
• Noah Galvin
• Ncuti Gatwa 
• Theo Germaine
• Colton Haynes
• Lauv 
• Elliott Page 
• Ben Platt
• Sam Smith 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 10:09am

Joevitus, we're as likely to get a Bobby as a Bobbi if a film is made. But I'd prefer a Bobbi as I think Marrianne Elliot's revision plays better in 2024. A piece with Bobby would need to be firmly set in the 70's to make sense and it's a story I don't find as interesting.

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 10:11am

ljay889 said: "https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Tony-Winner-Marianne-Elliott-Is-Hoping-for-A-COMPANY-Film-20240905
We’ve been hearing about possible Company and Follies films for years, so I do take this with a grain of salt, but it would definitely be exciting.

No no no.  If the “Bobbie” production is all we can get then I hope it never gets filmed. It’s an interesting concept that didn’t fully work  

 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 10:18am

I'd have preferred a pro shot of the stage production. Sondheim shows work better that way. And the PBS productions from the 80's introduced generations to his works.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 10:22am

MrsSallyAdams said: "I'd have preferred a pro shot of the stage production. Sondheim shows work better that way. And the PBS productions from the 80's introduced generations to his works."

 

This.

[binau]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 10:22am

100% Marianne Elliot would only make a company film with her vision of the show and Bobbi. She literally worked with Sondheim himself on it many of the emails are now public. There is no way she would bother to do a film version of Company the original way. That’s just not her work. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 10:42am

There is equal chance of this being great and being awful. Could be a tricky property to adapt for the screen, especially as a first-time filmmaker.

Assuming this will more resemble an indie and not a studio tentpole, Aubrey Plaza could do something really interesting with the part and can carry a tune. I also love the idea of Emma Stone or Jessie Buckley...Janelle Monae?

This could also take years if they don't even have the rights and funding and a script, and people who aren't currently age-appropriate (Florence Pugh, Keke Palmer, Selena Gomez) might be old enough by the time production rolls around, while people on the older cusp currently (Hathaway, Blunt, Johansson, Seyfried) might age out.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 11:02am

Elliot's production had enough fun, surrealistic moments to read as cinematic. But will it be as good a movie version of Company as "Russian Doll" already is?

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 11:10am

What songs / scenes would you cut to get a screenplay under two hours?

My votes:

• Sorry-Grateful - thematically appropriate but slow.
• Have I Got a (Guy/Girl) for You - a film can speed things up with montages
• Marry Me a Little - A great song but it's already optional. Save it for the end credits? 
• Tick Tock - speed this up or thread the fantasy throughout the film?
   

Updated On: 9/6/24 at 11:10 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 11:13am

MrsSallyAdams said: "What songs / scenes would you cut to get a screenplay under two hours?"

I say add some scenes, pad it out to 3.5 hours + intermission like the new film THE BRUTALIST that took the Venice Film Fest by storm ;0)

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 11:24am

For the love of God leave it alone. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 11:26am

hearthemsing22 said: "For the love of God leave it alone."


Leave what alone

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 11:28am

TotallyEffed said: "hearthemsing22 said: "For the love of God leave it alone."


Leave what alone"

The show. Proshot > Movie musical adaptation. Don't do it Marianne! 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 11:55am

Movie Joanne Casting Brainstorm

(This has been discussed on other threads, but since I'm on a roll)

Living actresses who've played her on Broadway

• Patti LuPone
• Debra Monk
• Jennifer Simard
• Barbara Walsh

Potentially appropriate actresses who've sung on screen recently

• Christine Baranski 
• Viola Davis 
• Taraji P. Henson
• Nicole Kidman 
• Jennifer Lopez  
• Michelle Pfeiffer 
• Emma Thompson
• Hannah Waddingham

Updated On: 9/6/24 at 11:55 AM

[StylishCynic]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 12:14pm

Seems like this would be a no-brainer for Anne Hathaway to lead, non? She was allegedly supposed to open Broadway until she became aware of her pregnancy.

She's really balances out the best of Rosalie and Katrina, imo.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 12:50pm

ElephantLoveMedley said: "I never knew how badly I want to see Emma Stone as Bobbie but now I can’t get that casting out of my head."

Saaaaaaame. I think a female Bobbi works best with an actress who has an edge to her. The tension between 'this woman is a lone wolf' and 'this woman is alone and wonders what she's missing' makes for a compelling version of company. Whatever her vocal limitations were (and they didn't bother me at all), I thought Katrina Lenk had that in spades and Stone would have that as well, even if the specifics would be very different from Lenk's Bobbi.

And a Taraji P. Henson Joanne? That's my new cocaine. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 3:07pm

MrsSallyAdams said: "Joevitus, we're as likely to get a Bobby as a Bobbi if a film is made. But I'd prefer a Bobbi as I think Marrianne Elliot's revision plays better in 2024. A piece with Bobby would need to be firmly set in the 70's to make sense and it's a story I don't find as interesting."

You really think one revival will have that much impact on future productions? I guess I hadn't thought that it would become a regular choice among productions (let alone a movie adaptation).

I think Bobby still works in a contemporary show, though I think a lot of the work simply is very era-specific ("Vodka stinger," "on a Boeing," the buzz-click busy signal motif, etc.). 

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 3:31pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "There is equal chance of this being great and being awful. Could be a tricky property to adapt for the screen, especially as a first-time filmmaker.

Assuming this will more resemble an indie and not a studio tentpole, Aubrey Plaza could do something really interesting with the part and can carry a tune. I also love the idea of Emma Stone or Jessie Buckley...Janelle Monae?

This could also take years if they don't even have the rights and funding and a script, and people who aren't currently age-appropriate (Florence Pugh, Keke Palmer, Selena Gomez) might be old enough by the time production rolls around, while people on the older cusp currently (Hathaway, Blunt, Johansson, Seyfried) might age out."

Janelle Monáe would make an awesome Bobbi -- but I'd love to see her take as Marta in a "traditional" production of Company! 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/6/24 at 4:05pm

I think regardless of gender, the show cannot escape the 1970s. They tried to massage some things for the Elliot revival, and some of it worked, but this show will always sound & feel like a period piece. Which I think is fine.

For me, the John Doyle production might have felt more contemporary than the Elliott production, and that had fewer text changes. 

Updated On: 9/6/24 at 04:05 PM

[binau]

Posted: 9/7/24 at 4:44am

SonofRobbieJ said: "ElephantLoveMedley said: "I never knew how badly I want to see Emma Stone as Bobbie but now I can’t get that casting out of my head."

Saaaaaaame. I think a female Bobbi works best with an actress who has an edge to her. The tension between 'this woman is a lone wolf' and 'this woman is alone and wonders what she's missing' makes for a compelling version of company. Whatever her vocal limitations were (and they didn't bother me at all), I thought Katrina Lenk had that in spades and Stone would have that as well, even if the specifics would be very different from Lenk's Bobbi.

And a Taraji P. Henson Joanne? That's my new cocaine."

I agree, and I would die on a hill defending that Katrina and the rest of the production was by far 1000x stronger than the west end production. Maybe if they got Jonathan Bailey ticket sales might have been a little stronger to carry the show for longer, but otherwise I have no complaints. 

From all the choices discussed it DOES feel like this show would allow itself to a great cast. Maybe if they get Anne Hathaway and (yet again) Streep as Joanne they can get someone to green light this :P. (BUT I WANT ANNE HATHAWAY AND PATTI).