Plenty of Broadway musicals have successfully made their way to the big screen, from The King and I to Tim Burton’s enjoyably bloodthirsty rendition of Sweeney Todd. Occasionally, that process of adaptation happens in reverse, as we’ve seen with film-to-stage hits such as The Producers and Carrie.
Well, OK, so Carrie was a big-time flop (The first time. They’re trying again), but The Producers was such a smash it made it all the way back to the big screen again. Now, we’ve got Back to the Future to look forward to…not to mention Animal House, Diner, and Rocky. Yes, Rocky. And many, many others. We may as well not fight this trend as it is likely to continue for some time…sort of like remakes, reboots, sequels, comic book movies, and so on.
Fortunately, Movie Irv is here to help producers looking for the next “sure thing” on stage pick out just the right cinema classics to adapt to the live musical format: