Probability of a PIPPIN movie musical, post-WICKED success?

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 12:27pm

The Weinstein Company optioned the title at some point after the Broadway revival and had a movie in talks for a while with Meron and Zadan as producers. Assumingly, was Rob Marshall slated to direct and choreograph in another post-Chicago collaboration? They even had a screenwriter who since, after TWC ended, has most recently worked on the series Daisy Jones & The Six and Shrinking. And it was to be in the vein of Fellini meets Fosse's original version of the show, or so I remember...? I'd even be curious to see if NBC wants to restart the holiday live TV musicals with something like Pippin. I'm working on a production of Pippin, so it's been on the brain, plus the Wicked movie is so far a success, along with seeing Schwartz in some press interviews, my mind started to wonder.

Updated On: 12/2/24 at 12:27 PM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 12:28pm

I doubt any studio is itching to produce this any time soon.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 12:35pm

TotallyEffed said: "I doubt any studio is itching to produce this any time soon."

Sure. That's why I even brought up the possibility of a live TV musical, if nothing else. But if a studio is looking for a movie musical with some potential awards possibilities or pedigree, this one's a decent contender. Especially if it's done very stylistically with something visionary... from any director.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 12:43pm

I think Wicked is successful because of a myriad of different factors: source material, successful Broadway show, interesting subject matter, a pop star, etc. 

I don't think Pippin would have the same reception. I saw the last revival and I truly don't know what the show is even about. It seems like such a product of its time period that I don't think modern audiences would gravitate towards it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 12:45pm

The success of the Wicked movie would not translate to people running out by the millions to see a Pippin movie just because Stephen Schwartz wrote the songs. Schwartz and Holzman have said in interviews that they’re talking about future projects involving the Oz IP.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 12:45pm

Aren't live TV musicals dead now? 

Also, PIPPIN is so difficult to pull off and casting would need to be near perfect for it to happen. The revival was awful after the OBC cast left.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 12:57pm

jacobsnchz14 said: "The Weinstein Company optioned the title at some point after the Broadway revival and had a movie in talks for a while with Meron and Zadan as producers. Assumingly, was Rob Marshall slated to direct and choreograph in another post-Chicago collaboration?"

According to this Deadline article from 2018, Weinstein made the deal for the rights back at Miramax around 2002, and it was one of the properties he took with him when he started The Weinstein Company. Sources said that Marshall was interested, but production on Nine was so stressful, he didn't want to make another movie with Weinstein.
https://deadline.com/2018/04/pippin-movie-harvey-weinstein-the-weinstein-company-bankruptcy-stephen-schwartz-roger-hirson-1202360978/

[BwayLB]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 1:07pm

Depends on what the trailers would look artistically. I saw the national tour with John Rubinstein & Lucy Arnez. Circus isn’t my thing but was a creative staging choice.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 1:11pm

jacobsnchz14 said: "TotallyEffed said: "I doubt any studio is itching to produce this any time soon."

Sure. That's why I even brought up the possibility of a live TV musical, if nothing else. But if a studio is looking for a movie musical with some potential awards possibilities or pedigree, this one's a decent contender."

Maybe it would be best suited as a prestige awards title from one of the streaming services (i.e. Apple, Netflix).

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 1:20pm

Wicked is one of the most popular musicals in the world, stemming from a time when only one musical (sometimes two) per decade would break into the public consciousness in a big way. It's also a fun show in the Disney Renaissance tradition, with relatable and relevant social themes and a queer-friendly feminist ethos. It's merchandisable as hell.

Pippin is a quirky, nihilistic metatheatrical musical about the search for purpose amidst life's inherent meaninglessness. It's full of clowns (literal and metaphorical), broad cardboard-cutout characters and women who are either madonnas or whores. It even ends with the cast challenging audience members to commit suicide as a ploy for attention and significance. 

Post Chicago, whose edginess and cynicism made it stand out, Pippin makes sense as a successor. But nobody is saying "Pippin could be the next Wicked."

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 2:07pm

I LOVE Pippin.  Probably my favorite Schwartz show, tbh, but there is no way in hell a movie version would do well today...not even if you cast 1/2 of Heartstopper and the other half from Bridgerton.  (And there would be some good casting choices in there!)

 

 

[joevitus]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 2:10pm

If I had to pick a favorite Schwartz show, it would likely be Pippin, but there are few shows that I think pose as many insurmountable obstacles as this one does in transferring material from stage to screen. Agree that it is a show very much of its era--I don't see a contemporary mass audience connecting with it now.

For all its flaws, the William Katt/Ben Vereen taping is an adequate enough capture for anyone who needs some kind of filmed version.

Out of curiosity, what were the troubles Marshall had working with Weinstein? Repulsive as he is on private level, I thought Weinstein was one of those studio heads who let directors do their own thing in peace. 

[Bwaygurl2]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 2:26pm

joevitus said: "If I had to pick a favorite Schwartz show, it would likely be Pippin, but there are few shows that I think pose as many insurmountable obstacles as this onedoes in transferring material from stage to screen. Agree that it is a show very much of its era--I don't see a contemporary mass audience connecting with it now.

For all its flaws, the William Katt/Ben Vereen taping is an adequate enough capture for anyone who needs some kind of filmed version.

Out of curiosity, what were the troubles Marshall had working with Weinstein? Repulsive as he is on private level, I thought Weinsteinwas one of those studio heads who let directors do their own thing in peace."

My understanding is that Weinstein was an extreme micromanager (to everyone except Tarantino, who he left alone). 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 2:28pm

^Well there was that one time that Weinstein wanted Princess Mononoke cut into ribbons to make it shorter that made Hayao Miyazaki so mad that he sent him a samurai sword with the words "no cuts".

As for Pippin, there's a big problem that it was built for the stage in mind while making it; so, trying to get that transferred to another medium like film would be impossible to do. Wicked was always felt to many people that it would make a great movie for how cinematic it felt, so there was that advantage.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 2:35pm

I think Wicked's success helps make a Hamilton movie happen more than anything else.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 2:48pm

dramamama611 said: "1/2 of Heartstopper "

Unironically, Kit Connor would be an amazing Pippin!

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 2:50pm

the probability is near zero

to start with the book is a mess

and comparing a global phenomenon like wicked to pippin is apples to oranges

pippin was a broadway success and it has many elements to admire including the music

but it never peaked culturally the way wicked has

given that even more popular broadway shows such as rent and dear evan hansen spawned films which flopped in spectacular fashion only a producer who wanted to burn money would greenlight a pippin movie

 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 2:51pm

I enjoyed the hell out of the tour of the revival, but I'd also be hard pressed to tell you what the hell it's about. 

You are very correct that Hollywood is going to take all of the wrong answers in the wake of Wicked, but maybe it'll counteract all of the wrong answers they took after Cats. Who knows. Hollywood is insane and chasing the dragon of success like a drug addict with no moderation or critical thinking. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 3:10pm

Off subject, but I think a Fun Home movie would be truly remarkable. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 3:17pm

Bwaygurl2 said: "joevitus said: "Out of curiosity, what were the troubles Marshall had working with Weinstein? Repulsive as he is on private level, I thought Weinstein was one of those studio heads who let directors do their own thing in peace."

My understanding is that Weinstein was an extreme micromanager (to everyone except Tarantino, who he left alone)."

Marshall mentioned during a retrospective interview for the 20th anniversary of Chicago that Weinstein pretty much left him alone throughout the whole process because he was mainly focusing on Gangs of New York around that time (where he infamously had more control over the finished product than even Scorsese).

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 3:29pm

I thought Weinstein's Pippin would have been directed by Paulus? I recall the story of how she got the directing job for Finding Neverland included some kind of involvement with a Pippin film.

[joevitus]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 3:46pm

Thanks all for the info on Weinstein. Musical Master's anecdote about Miyazaki is particularly wonderful. 

[willep]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 6:43pm

I would be shocked. It has nowhere near the popularity that Wicked has.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 7:23pm

RippedMan said: "Off subject, but I think a Fun Home movie would be truly remarkable."

It went under option in 2020. Not sure if it is still happening.

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/198003/jake-gyllenhaal-to-produce-star-in-movie-musical-adaptation-of-fun-home/

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 10:23pm

My dream for a Fun Home movie would blend live action with animation done in the style of Bechdel's drawings. Characters and settings dropping in and out between being animated for some scenes and live actors for others, but Bruce is always animated except for “Telephone Wire” so when Big Alison gets into the car with him what throws her really off balance is finally truly seeing him for the first time