Netflix's MATILDA: THE MOVIE MUSICAL - News & Discussion Thread

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Breaking-MATILDA-Movie-Musical-Sets-December-2022-Netflix-Release-20210609

The film adaptation of "Matilda" will officially premiere on Netflix in December of 2022.

Additionally, the movie will get a theatrical release in the U.K. and Ireland - it will be available in cinemas on December 2, 2022, according to Variety.

The cast of "Matilda" includes Alisha Weir as Matilda, Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull, Lashana Lynch as Miss Honey, Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough as Matilda's parents Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, and Sindhu Vee as librarian Mrs. Phelps.

Matilda is written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin. Based on the book of the same name by Roald Dahl, Matilda tells of a super-powered girl who uses her new skills to help those around her, all the while trying to deal with the atrocious Miss Trunchbull.

The film adaptation is helmed by Matthew Warchus, who directed the original stage production. Ellen Kane, who worked with choreographer Peter Darling on the stage production, will contribute choreography.

 

Wonder if Netflix is gonna do a bigger musical like this every December (this + last year’s The Prom), with other “smaller” properties sprinkled around the rest of the year (Tick, Tick…, Thirteen, etc.)

(EDIT: 2022?? Initially read it as THIS December… whoops)

Updated On: 6/9/21 at 10:47 AM

^It's a valid concern, but it might be worth noting that unlike Susan Stroman, Matthew Warchus already has 2 feature film directing credits under his belt. Whether those 2 particular feature films are encouraging examples of his skill is a different question, but in any case, it's something. 

I also just think it's a different situation. Stroman is an old-fashioned director by nature; her style harkens back to a time when it was more traditional to do stage-y movie-musicals. Plus, she was dealing with a property that was a monster hit, with its original stars. I can see why there was an inclination to copy-paste the stage version.

Warchus is a traditionalist in some ways, but his work has a more contemporary feel. And he has a flair for visuals which I think will serve him well for an adaptation like this. Not to mention, he has the benefit hindsight. He's making this film at a time when stage-to-screen adaptations are experiencing a resurgence in popularity, and recent history has clearly shown that making significant adjustments to suit the new medium is beneficial. 

With how creative Matthew was with the Old Vic livestreams over the past year, I am optimistic that he will work hard to maintain the tone and style of the stage show. Netflix often has their new material ready a year in advance, so I imagine they're filming now. I really hope they honor the choreography, though. The staging of Bruce was so fun, I'd hate to lose that.

Call_me_jorge said: "Super interested in Matthew Warchus directing this. I believe the last a director of a musical was asked to do the film adaptation it was Susan Stroman with The Producers and well… we all know how that went. Really makes me wonder if it’s going to be a full on recreation of the stage show or something new."

Don't forget that Phyllida Lloyd, who directed the original stage productions of Mamma Mia!, also directed its 2008 film adaptation. Not to mention that Jonathan Butterell, who directed the West End production of Everybody's Talking About Jamie, did direct its upcoming movie adaptation.

I'm not sure Trunchbull was exactly what you'd call "butch." Probably less so than the movie or even the original novel, where she's kind of this "joyless Brit's nightmare of a lesbian" stereotype. Bertie Carvel shook off a lot of the nastier bulldyke imagery and reinvented the role as a sort of nightmarish, sexless, almost alien being, equal parts linebacker, Dame Edna and Richard O'Brien.

Tag said: "TheatreFan4 said: "uncageg said: "I love Thompson and I am sure she will be great, but I would have loved to see them keep in line with the stage production and cast a male in the part. JMO"

Casting Men for Women is just incredibly antiquated. This isn't Hairspray where they're honoring a Drag Role from the 80s, they cast a man who was tall so they could make Trunchbull more butch."

And Matilda was/is honouring British pantomime drag."

They quite explicitly stated that they were open to having a woman play Trunchbull on stage if they found the right woman so that point rings pretty hollow. And I'll be entirely honest, nothing about Trunchbull evokes Pantomime Dame.

Updated On: 6/10/21 at 12:11 AM

Yikes. 

TheatreFan4 said: "uncageg said: "I love Thompson and I am sure she will be great, but I would have loved to see them keep in line with the stage production and cast a male in the part. JMO"

Casting Men for Women is just incredibly antiquated. This isn't Hairspray where they're honoring a Drag Role from the 80s, they cast a man who was tall so they could make Trunchbull more butch."

It is more than just having someone tall. The way they reinvented the role gave her an eerie almost other worldly quality. She was sexless as mother poster described. Having a man play a woman’s role first and foremost allows for a different level of grotesque. It immediately doesn’t read as woman but as something ‘other’ something that is just an embodiment of a child’s nightmares and not either a male or a female. This is how the children in the school see her 

Sounds like the Wormwood's songs are gone, as is their son, Michael. They had to cut down the time somehow.