The King and I new adaptation

[Globefan]

Posted: 3/29/20 at 10:12pm

Who here wants to see a new film adaptation of The King and I? 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 3/29/20 at 10:46pm

I would really like one a few more years down the line with a really good theater actress and an Asian star to play Anna and the King respectfully, plus the songs that were deleted from the original 1956 film can be restored for the new one because they can work if done well.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 9:27am

I would be game as long as done right in terms of casting, Singing and artistic quality

[Owen22]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 9:56am

Remember the animated version from fifteen or so years ago?

[joevitus]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 10:23am

Owen22 said: "Remember the animated version from fifteen or so years ago?"

I try not to.

I can't see any need to remake a classic movie. And there's only one King, Yul. A movie without him would be pointless. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 10:27am

[tmdonahue]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 10:34am

I don't think I want to see a new movie of "West Side Story," let alone a new movie of TK&I.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 10:55am

 

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 11:13am

Anna and the King is not the same as a remake if The King and I, folks.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 1:16pm

They made a nonmusical film based on the source material of the musical? Isn't that like a new film adaptation of Green Grow The Lilacs?

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 2:41pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "They made a nonmusical film based on the source material of the musical? Isn't that like a new film adaptation ofGreen Grow The Lilacs?"

Basically.

A non-musical film based on the source material of "Carousel" is not a remake of "Carousel" but a remake of "Liliom" - so I have no idea why the trailer and stills for "Anna and the King" are even being posted in this thread. 

 

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 5:40pm

I would personally love to see a new film of TKAI.  I have never loved the movie, because it is so stage bound.  It may be lavish, but you always know you are watching something filmed on a soundstage.  Give me  realistic scenes arriving at port, fleeing into the jungle, walking around a compound that has real sunlight and shrubbery.  Male it real. 

Of course, I believe that the probability that a movie remake will ever occur is incredibly unlikely, infinitesimal???

[joevitus]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 6:46pm

There's really no way to do it, short of throwing the entire book out. It's quite problematic by today's standards, and in fact the 1956 movie, by its very staginess, aptly puts the whole thing inside a proscenium, as if to say "Here's a record of a very classic stage piece. Enjoy it for what it was."

Between the pidgin-English for the Siamese, the childish temper-tantrums of the King, and the impression that a young governess with zero political experience can decide matters of policy better than a royal leader trained from birth and surrounded by advisors, there's just no way to make a movie out of this material that would appeal the the general moviegoer. Theater, by its stylized nature, is different. Onstage, it's a version of Siam we don't have to believe ever existed. It's a Siam that exists within the boundaries of the stage space. Movies ask us to take something as real, to believe in the actuality of what we are seeing.

I'm not knocking the show. It is a classic. I am aware how it will read to most contemporary film audiences. 

Updated On: 3/30/20 at 06:46 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/30/20 at 11:36pm

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/31/20 at 12:26am

I think all the golden era musical films are in need of remakes. Especially this one. I concur with the sentiment of needing an Asian actress to play Anna. Lea Salonga should star as Anna.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/31/20 at 1:03am

Emily Blunt expressed interest in playing Anna during a Variety Actors On Actors interview with Hugh Jackman. She'd be brilliant (though not entirely bankable), as would many other ladies.

The only way any remake of The King and I happens is if a MAJOR director wants to do it, and they have the studio backing to produce on a grand scale, like Spielberg and West Side Story. And that still doesn't help the fact that TKAI is reviled by many in the Asian community, and the overseas box office is a big part of a hit movie nowadays.

And yes, the optics are such that the director would need to be an Asian (preferably Thai) artist.

If any R&H gets remade, South Pacific is the candidate for me. It can be marketed as both a "war movie" and   a love story, the time period is more relevant than TKAI, the race relations are slightly less thorny (because, unfortunately, the POC characters are relegated to supporting roles), and the original film is far less iconic than TKAI.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 3/31/20 at 4:50pm

I  should think after the dreadful CARTOON version, the folks at what is left of R&H had learned their lesson.

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/31/20 at 5:58pm

I still want to see “The King and the Giant Floating Eye,” where a despotic monarch is terrorized by a floating abomination.

[joevitus]

Posted: 3/31/20 at 6:40pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Emily Blunt expressed interest in playing Anna during a VarietyActors On Actorsinterview with Hugh Jackman. She'd be brilliant (though not entirely bankable), as would many other ladies.

The only way any remake of The King and I happensis if a MAJOR director wants to do it, and they have the studio backing to produce on a grand scale,like Spielberg andWest Side Story. And that still doesn't help the fact thatTKAIis reviled by many in the Asian community, and the overseas box office is a big part of a hit movie nowadays.

And yes, the optics are such that the director would need to be an Asian (preferably Thai) artist.

If any R&H gets remade, South Pacificis the candidate for me. It can be marketed as both a "war movie" and a love story, the time period is more relevant thanTKAI,the race relations are slightlyless thorny (because, unfortunately, the POC characters are relegated to supporting roles),and the original film is far less iconic thanTKAI."

Agreed. Didn't care for the t.v. movie version--in this case, I think the script can be followed faithfully--but the message of the show is as strong and relevant as ever. 

[AADA81]

Posted: 4/1/20 at 1:38pm

I can just see it now: Anna and Tuptim empower one another to join forces with Lady Thiang and fight against the King for the rights of women in 1860s Siam.  They could even interpolate 'I Have Confidence' into the score as a female anthem for Lady Thiang to sing when expressing her burgeoning independence to the Kralahome.

Updated On: 4/1/20 at 01:38 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/1/20 at 5:22pm

 

[Gorlois]

Posted: 4/1/20 at 5:26pm

Owen22 said: "Remember the animated version from fifteen or so years ago?"

That movie came out when I was a kid— it’s closer to 25 than 15. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/1/20 at 5:39pm

Call_me_jorge said: "I think all the golden era musical films are in need of remakes. Especially this one. I concur with the sentiment of needing an Asian actress to play Anna. Lea Salonga should star as Anna."

Why on earth would Lea Salonga ever be considered to play Anna Leonowens? Anna was not Asian.

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/1/20 at 6:12pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Call_me_jorge said: "I think all the golden era musical films are in need of remakes. Especially this one. I concur with the sentiment of needing an Asian actress to play Anna. Lea Salonga should star as Anna."

Why on earth would Lea Salonga ever be considered to play Anna Leonowens? Anna was not Asian."

Don't ask me. It seems to be a thing in this thread that there needs to be an Asian actress cast as Anna. Maybe as some compensation for all the years when Caucasians were cast as the Siamese characters? Historically, it makes no sense, but people were going crazy over the idea of Donna Murphy playing George (not Dot) in Sunday in the Park with George. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/1/20 at 9:51pm

I believe the historical Anna Leonowens was mixed race, assumed to be Indian or Southeast Asian and British.