The IN THE HEIGHTS Film Adaptation Thread — Page 23

dramamama611 said: "Well, happy birthday to me!"

That's my birthday, too! I'll be more than 2 weeks post-vaccine by then, too, so I do believe this will be my first in-theatre movie since before Covid. Way better birthday than last year!

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the "In the Heights" film is going to be the "Grease" of the 2020s.

Until the film adaptation of WICKED, you mean. I wouldn’t include DEAR EVAN HANSEN as I’m sure it’ll look/feel like a Netflix Ryan Murphy production. WICKED seems to be the big lavish musical one will expect.

CarlosAlberto said: "qolbinau said: "I wonder if this will become one of the few, if only, film adaptations that are better than the stage show itself. I also wonder if this is going to become a cultural phenomenon and will sit alongside the classic musical films like The Sound of Music, Marry Poppins, Chicago etc. for the ages. Maybe it’s too soon to hype it up but it feels like this will break ground.."

That's an interesting observation qolbinau. Maybe I'm being a little biased because it is one of my all-time favorite musicals but this adaptation has exceeded all of my expectations, not only visually from what I've seen in the trailers but in the daring way Quiara Alegria Hudes didn't just lazily copy what she wrote for the stage show. She made some daring choices in adapting the material from eliminating the character of "Camilia", turning Daniela and Carla into life partners, and adding the characters of "Cuca" and "Mr. de la Vega" (Benny's father). I'm sure there are many other surprises in store, but I can't help but feel that this film will wind up being a cultural phenomenon and a musical touchstone in very much the same way "The Sound of Music", "Mary Poppins", "Cabaret", "Chicago", "Grease" and "West Side Story" were back in their day.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the "In the Heights" film is going to be the "Grease" of the 2020s."



ITH has remained one of my all-time favorite musicals since I discovered it about 12 years ago. My love for it has stood the test of time, way more than any of the other musicals I liked back then. I'm extremely excited for this film, and I expect that I personally will love it.

But as far as broad, mainstream reception? I'm skeptical about what kind of reaction it will get. I feel like many people will find it too cartoonish, or generally brush it off because it's a musical onscreen. I personally feel like the days of movie-musicals transcending their source material, and becoming iconic, are behind us. I don't know that any movie musical based on a stage show can really become iconic in our current culture, the way they used to. Chicago and Mamma Mia might come the closest, but those were both well over a decade ago, and even still I wouldn't put those on the same "icon" tier as something like Grease.

Also - I respect Hudes for being willing to make changes to the source material to adapt it to a new time, and a new medium. On principal, I believe that's the right approach to take. But there's a simplicity to the stage book that I worry will be lost. Based on what we've seen in the trailers, I worry that it will become too on-the nose, with too many storytelling devices, and a lot of little changes that won't add up to a unified re-interpretation of the story. BUT, I may very well be wrong, and I completely, sincerely hope I am. Either way, I expect that I personally will love it, and I expect to cry about about 15 times throughout the movie!

JBroadway said: "Also - I respect Hudes for being willing to make changes to the source material to adapt it to a new time, and a new medium. On principal, I believe that's the right approach to take. But there's a simplicity to the stage book that I worry will be lost. Based on what we've seen in the trailers, I worry that it will become too on-the nose, with too many storytelling devices, and a lot of little changes that won't add up to a unified re-interpretation of the story. BUT, I may very well be wrong, and I completely, sincerely hope I am. Either way, I expect that I personally will love it, and I expect to cry about about 15 times throughout the movie!"

I'm supposed to get my vaccines during the next few weeks, so I should be good to go to see it in a movie theater. I have probably overthought the trailers, but I do worry that the changes may not work as well as the comparatively simple stage musical. But it's a film, and it seems obvious that this is more ambitious than a simple stage-to-screen transfer. I will definitely go in wanting to love it, but I do worry it's going to fly off in too many directions to work as well as I hope.

I think expecting a modern movie musical classic might be weighting the film with too many expectations. I just want a genuinely good adaptation that captures both the charm of the stage musical and the opportunities of film.

What caught my attention when the first trailer dropped, was that Christopher Scott's chorography for "96,000" has this slight inspiration from Busby Berkeley that it threw me off guard at first. Especially the overhead shot.

But it does look stunning alongside some of the other musical numbers as well.

Have a great time at the screening teddy1996!

Also what is interesting about that interview is the previous development when Universal had the film rights and were going to get Kenny Ortega to direct, which honestly would never work with what they were intending with the casting. Thank goodness for things working out the way they did.

teddy1996 said: "if anyone is interested in watching an early screening, here’s the link: https://twitter.com/slu1987/status/1380312918567354376?"

Thanks for sharing!!

The later show is full. But I was able to register for the earlier streaming.

Thanks Teddy!

Updated On: 4/9/21 at 10:27 AM