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Posts with tag JesusChristSuperstar

Finally! 'Wicked' to Get a Movie Makeover

Filed under: Music & Musicals », Deals », Fandom », DIY/Filmmaking »

It wasn't too long ago that I was talking about how Jersey Boys should be adapted for the big screen. In that same post (and in another one as well), I said how Wicked was one of Broadway's best (if not the best) and yet it still hadn't gone the movie-musical route. Fans of the musical finally have a chance to rejoice, however, because Variety tells us that as part of producer Marc Platt's (Wanted) new, extended five-year contract with Universal, he'll be working on a movie version of Wicked, along with a sequel to Wanted and a remake of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

Here's what Uni's production president Donna Langley had to say about Wicked: "Our goal now is absolutely to make the 'Wicked' film, but much like Judy Craymer wouldn't give up screen rights to 'Mamma Mia!' until the stage show had reached its pinnacle, Marc and Stephen Schwartz are very mindful of the right timing. But we're dying to do it." Wicked, for those not in the know, is based on the best-selling novel about the two witches in the Land of Oz -- Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North -- and is set mostly before The Wizard of Oz, kinda like a prequel. It'd also be an interesting adaptation because there's that fantasy element that hasn't really been present in the last round of movie-musicals; thus, I'll be curious to see how they pull this one off.

What say you? Is it time for Wicked to hit the big screen? Down for Wanted 2? Itching for more Jesus Christ Superstar?

RIP: Reel Important People -- December 17, 2007

Filed under: Obits », Michael Moore », Cinematical Indie »

  • St. Claire Bourne (1943-2007) - Filmmaker who directed the documentary John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk and was the unit manager for When We Were Kings. He also appears as himself in the doc How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It), which is about Melvin Van Peebles. His most familiar work, though, is likely Making 'Do the Right Thing', which can be found on Criterion's DVD release of the Spike Lee film. He died after an operation to remove a brain tumor December 15, in New York. (Daily News via The Reeler)
  • John Clark (? - 2007) - Art director for Jesus Christ Superstar, Tommy, Secret Ceremony, The Railway Children, Performance and Sidney Lumet's The Offence. He died December 12 in London. (IMDb)
  • Philippe Clay (1927-2007) - French singer and actor who appears in Bell, Book and Candle, Jean Delannoy's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (the Anthony Quinn/Gina Lollobrigida one), Jean Renoir's French Cancan and Roger Planchon's Lautrec, in which he portrayed the painter Auguste Renoir. He died of cardiac arrest December 13, in Paris. (Find a Grave)
  • Freddie Fields (1923-2007) - "Superagent" and talent manager who co-founded Creative Management Associates, the precursor to International Creative Management (ICM). He also produced Glory, American Gigolo, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Victory, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Millennium and Crimes of the Heart. He died of lung cancer December 11, in Beverly Hills. (Variety)
  • Jillian Kesner (1950-2007) - Actress and karate expert who starred in Beverly Hills Vamp, Raw Force (aka Kung Fu Cannibals), Firecracker (aka Naked Fist) and Student Body, which is familiar to fans of Errol Morris' documentary The Thin Blue Line, in which it is featured. She later became a production coordinator and associate producer. She died of a staph infection December 5. (Voy.com)
  • Tom Miller (1922-2007) - Unit publicist for Shaft, Alex in Wonderland, The Cotton Club, The Last Dragon, Blow Out, The Happy Hooker, Easy Money and Paul Newman's Harry & Son and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. He died of an embolism following surgery December 6, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Tuscaloosa News)

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