THE PRODUCERS Movie Begins Principal Photography

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Posted: 3/1/05 at 10:30pm

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/050301b.php

Principal photography began today in Brooklyn, New York, on the motion picture version of one of the most celebrated musical shows in the history of American theater, Mel Brooks' "The Producers." The film stars Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell. Universal Pictures will distribute the film domestically, opening on December 23, 2005, with Sony Pictures Releasing International handling foreign distribution.

Based on Brooks' 1968 Oscar(R)-winning motion picture comedy, the musical play won a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards, including three for Brooks -- Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book of a Musical. Brooks produces the film with Jonathan Sanger, from a screenplay by Brooks and Thomas Meehan. Susan Stroman will make her motion picture directing debut on "The Producers," having won Tonys as Best Director and Choreographer for the long-running Broadway hit.

Two-time Tony winners Lane and Broderick return to their iconic roles as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, a scheming theatrical producer and his neurotic accountant, who hit upon the perfect plan to make a fortune on Broadway. Theorizing that many Broadway producers get rich by raising outside capital to finance expensive shows and walk away with huge fees even if the show flops, Bialystock and Bloom set out to find the perfect material to burn their backers and get rich. And what better to ensure a closing notice on opening night than a "musical romp" celebrating the life and high times of modern history's most reviled figure: "Springtime for Hitler." But the producers find out the hard way that one man's bad taste is another's breakthrough in art, and their show is hailed as a toast-of-the-town sensation.

Joining Lane and Broderick in the film are Thurman ("Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill," "Be Cool" and the upcoming "Prime") as Ulla, the Swedish secretary- slash-receptionist and would-be showgirl, and Ferrell ("Elf," "Anchorman," the upcoming "Kicking & Screaming") as Franz Liebkind, a neo-Nazi playwright and pigeon fancier responsible for conceiving the "worst play ever written."

Also reprising their celebrated supporting roles from Broadway are Tony winners Gary Beach and Roger Bart as theatrical director Roger DeBris and his common-law assistant Carmen Ghia.

The production is currently filming on four state-of-the-art stages at the new Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York. Mark Friedberg ("Far from Heaven," "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou") serves as production designer, John Bailey ("As Good As It Gets") as cinematographer and William Ivey Long, who won a Tony Award for the Broadway production, returning as costume designer for the film.