save the last dance Tagged Articles at Cinematical

OK, so maybe they aren't turning all their movies into Broadway musicals, but it sure seems like it. According to Variety, The Weinstein Co. is out to produce a number of adaptations for the stage, beginning with Finding Neverland, which is expected to hit the stage in 2010 (or re-hit the stage, since the movie was based on a play by Allan Knee). After that, it's a stage version of Pink Floyd's The Wall (apparently adapted from the album, not Alan Parker's 1982 film). Then, other titles in the pipeline include the Miramax hits Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat, Save the Last Dance and Cinema Paradiso. Wait, a stage musical based on a movie that celebrates moviegoing? That's gotta be one of the dumbest things I've heard.

These certainly aren't the first movies to be exploited adapted for the stage, and they won't even be the first stage productions from the Weinsteins, who also had a hand in Tony-winner "August: Osage County," as well as the hit stage adaptation of The Producers and the soon-to-be-a-film "Frost/Nixon." The Finding Neverland musical is already being written, with book by original playwright Knee and music by "Grey Gardens" composer Scott Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie. The Wall also is in the works under the care of playwright/screenwriter Lee Hall (Billy Elliot).

So far, it appears TWC is only adapting Miramax films, from back when the Weinsteins were in charge there, but maybe one day we'll get to see "Grindhouse: The Musical" or a stage adaptation of Fanboys (maybe it can even hit the stage before theaters, at the rate it's going).

Now that Paramount has hired Louis Feola to head its direct-to-video (DTV) division, the studio is hoping for a lucrative business of cheap sequels. Paramount made a small attempt last year with Save the Last Dance 2, but it wasn't nearly as successful as the small-screen hits that Universal has been dumping out. Feola used to work for Universal Home Entertainment, where he oversaw DTV sequels to American Pie, Darkman and Tremors.

According to Variety, Feola will be mining through Paramount's back catalog, including the films of Paramount Classics, Paramount Vantage, MTV and Nickelodeon, to produce 4-6 sequels, each budgeted at less than $10 million. The first, which has yet to be determined, will be released in late 2008. Variety mentions sequels to Airplane! and The Naked Gun, but the trade is probably just speculating with these titles.

Although I hate the idea of DTV sequels, I have some ideas of Paramount films that could be exploited without upsetting too many fans. The following could be easily and cheaply made and could also provide guilty pleasures to the same kind of people who enjoy the American Pie spinoffs: Teen Wolf, Hiding Out, Summer School and Ladybugs -- of course, each of these would have to be made more R-rated than the originals. Maybe they can even restart the Meatballs franchise?