New BYE BYE BIRDIE film in the works; Shankman at helm?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:21am

Or so it seems from his last tweet: http://m.twitter.com/adammshankman/status/13346032462

Blah.
Did I miss this news or is it new info? Updated On: 5/4/10 at 12:21 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:24am

It's been in the works. It will be a huge mistake if they are setting it in "modern time."

[ABB2357]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:29am

They are indeed!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:30am

http://twitter.com/adammshankman/status/13346727700

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:31am

Hairspray was one of the best movie musicals we've had in awhile, I trust him.

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:39am

It *could* be great, but if it's set today, then there's no real drama. The whole point of the original was that he was forced to go. Birdie wasn't want to go.

(Or did I miss an important scene?)

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:41am

Yes, in the original he was drafted (it was a parody of when Elvis was drafted). I guess in the updated version, he could enlist and his producer has a cow and tries to deny that he has done this. No where near the same thing but it *could* work if done right.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:42am

I loved HAIRSPRAY too, but based on the draft in which Conrad is a rapper about to go to prison for assault (yet still sings "Honestly Sincere" with the original music and lyrics), I think Shankman is deluding himself here. Any attempt to integrate the very period BIRDIE score with a modern setting will be a disaster, regardless of the talent involved.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 12:48am

I absolutely loved HAIRSPRAY on stage but thought the film version was ridiculously overrated. It wasn't awful but it wasn't really very good either, in my opinion. I think the best movie musical of the last few years is DREAMGIRLS but I digress.

I hope they don't f*ck this up. I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

[mygfdontliveincanada]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 1:09am

"Fresh and current" doesn't mean that it will be updated to take place in 2010. The movie version of CHICAGO was very fresh, current, and relevant, and yet the setting was exactly the same as the show.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 1:09am

I get a little sick to my stomach when I think about the Dreamgirls film. It dulls my memory of the top notch stage productions I saw.

On the other hand, the Hairspray movie reminds me of the fab Broadway cast and the fab tour cast and kind of burnishes those happy memories.

On the other other hand, there is not now nor will there ever be a need for another Bye Bye Birdie..

[sundayclothes2]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 1:13am

A few years ago I saw a copy of a Bye Bye Birdie screenplay written by Tina Fey. It was updated to modern time and the character of Birdie was a R&B/Pop star - kind of like Usher. As I said, this was a few years ago so I am not sure if this is the screenplay they are using or if they have started from scratch.
I hope it is a new one as that one was pretty much crap. Updated On: 5/4/10 at 01:13 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 1:16am

" but based on the draft in which Conrad is a rapper about to go to prison for assault (yet still sings "Honestly Sincere" with the original music and lyrics)"

Wait... are you serious?

[sundayclothes2]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 1:21am

^ That was in the Tina Fey one. But I don't remember him being a rapper...

[greensgreens]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 1:40pm

OK, if Tina Fey is indeed writing this, I will let her do whatever she wants. Nobody could couch "Honestly Sincere" in the suggested modern context with more acerbic wit and make it work better than her.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 2:47pm

Maybe Birdie is gay and afraid of being outed because DADT hasn't yet been revealed, so his PR company sets up the publicity stunt to shroud his homosexuality.

No, that would suck, too. The period is what made the work iconic, both in script and score. Take that away and there's no point in doing Bye Bye Birdie as opposed to some other musical or something new.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 2:50pm

While I am slightly frightened by the ideas of it being set in modern times and of a rapping Conrad (okay, make that VERY frightened), let's get back to Tina Fey. Though I'm not sure what she would be like writing a musical adaptation, after her years as head writer of SNL, and with Mean Girls in mind, I would trust her with anything. Bye Bye Birdie, my first born...you name it.

Oh, and count me in as someone who absolutely loved the film version of Hairspray. And I didn't even want to. At all. I remember being (undeservedly) pissed about Travolta getting the part and loathing Zac Efron back then. Yet by the final scene not only did I totally change my mind, but I actually wanted to BE in the movie. By the time everyone the blacks and whites hold hands near the end of "You Can't Stop The Beat", I was grinning ear to ear and totally sold on the film. Dreamgirls, however, let me nothing but cold. I loved some of the performances. Some greats were: Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose, and surprisingly Beyonce, who I thought was iffy at most points, but came alive during "Listen". Oddly enough I think she actually benefited (or at least her portrayal did) from me disliking her. Since Deena isn't the most lovable of characters, it actually helped.

All that aside, I don't get my musical hopes up until the movie is released. Just like every show nowadays is "Broadway-Bound", so many movie musicals are said to be in the works. Until I'm there sitting in the uncomfortable theater seat, I won't count on it. Updated On: 5/4/10 at 02:50 PM