Movie-turned-musicals didn't do so well at the Tony Awards last night, but that doesn't mean people are going to stop adapting films for the stage. For instance, according to The Daily Telegraph, John Cleese is turning his hit movie A Fish Called Wanda into a musical. He's currently writing it with his 24-year-old daughter, Camilla, who he claims is even funnier than he is. He also jokes that they're going to attempt to write the songs themselves, but he thinks they're going to be no good, so he'll likely be bringing in a lyricist. For now, in its early stages, Cleese says they're simply working out the story (which shouldn't be too difficult, as it already exists in film form).

The Daily Telegraph somewhat speculates that Cleese is working on the project for two reasons: one, he didn't make any money off Spamalot, because he apparently agreed to waive his royalties, thinking the musical adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail wouldn't do well; two, he's currently divorcing from his third wife. Tabloid gossip aside, and ignoring the fact that Cleese may have been 'taking the piss', are we ready for A Fish Called Wanda: The Musical? And if that's a success, would a Fierce Creatures: The Musical be not far behind?

For anyone who is as big a Terry Gilliam fan as I, the following might need to be read while sitting down. According to Variety, Handmade Films, the production company co-created by George Harrison, is set to remake Time Bandits, which Gilliam made for the company twenty-five years ago. Possibly my first introduction to the fantastic film maker and also to many of the Monty Python cast, the film is very dear to me as both a Gilliam fan and as a child of the '80s. It tells of a young boy who travels through time and space with a group of little people who have stolen a special map from "the Supreme Being" in order to guide them on a tour of events throughout history, robbing from characters as diverse as Agamemnon, Robin Hood and Napoleon along the way.

Without Gilliam's cooperation and without the cast, which originally included Sean Connery, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Ian Holm and the finest bunch of diminutive actors ever, I just can't imagine how good a Time Bandits redo could be, though I will say that if Handmade reuse Gilliam and Palin's script, it won't be too terrible. I'm not that excited about whatever kind of computer effects they might employ, however.

Handmade, now headed by Patrick Meehan with a production arm led by former Nelson Entertainment exec Anthony Rufus-Isaacs, is supposedly looking to remake more of its older films and in addition to Time Bandits is also working on an update of The Long Good Friday, which originally starred Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren, and a new version of Mona Lisa, which also starred Hoskins, to be directed by Larry Clark.

[via Cinema Blend]

Despite the fact that I still have a really hard time watching the "Hey, Let's Be Really Cruel To Ken!" scenes (seriously -- those things are so sadistic that the movie no longer a comedy while they're going on), it's impossible to deny that A Fish called Wanda was one of the funniest movies of the 1980s. As far as I can tell, though, the only in-print DVD is pathetically bare-boned (if you don't count the very special-sounding booklet "featuring trivia, production notes and a revealing look at the making of the movie"), a state of affairs that is awfully frustrating for a movie filled with so much special feature potential (I mean, it stars 1/3 of Monty Python! How can the outtakes not be worth seeing?). Thankfully, come August, that horrible oversight will be corrected: MGM is finally releasing a DVD SE of which the film is worthy.

For less than $25, you'll get nearly 30 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes (I'm imagining 40 different deliveries of "Don't call me stupid!" crammed into a two minute montage), a couple of different documentaries, easter eggs, and A COMMENTARY TRACK FROM JOHN CLEESE!, in addition to other goodies. That, friends, is more like it. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go give more money to amazon.com.