The musical has struggled to find new life over the past decade. Glee and similar TV shows may find success, and the occasional film, such as Chicago or Les Miserables, rises to prominence, but for the most part the musical remains a tough sell. Just look at the recent Oscar attempt to highlight great musicals of the last decade, which cast a spotlight on a bare handful of films.
Clint Eastwood, who once played an unlikely part in the comedy western musical Paint Your Wagon, and is known for composing the music for many of his films, has been trying to mount a new musical version of A Star is Born. That had momentum when Beyonce was attached, but stalled out when the singer exited the project.
Now Eastwood is reportedly turning to another musical: the big-screen version of Jersey Boys. The film would adapt the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical about the rise to fame of the classic group Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons. Jon Favreau was developing the film, but it was put into turnaround by Warner Bros. last year. Ironically, if Eastwood signs on, Warners, which houses his production company, may be back on board.
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Much as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons had a difficult road to the top, so too is the film adaptation of their Broadway musical Jersey Boys facing a tough trek to the screen. Purchased by GK Films for a hefty sum in 2010, Jersey Boys soon had director Jon Favreau prepping the John Logan-penned film at Warner Bros. He’s been casting and even had some familiar faces potentially lined up for key roles. However, it seems the studio has decided the budget and international appeal aren’t quite to its liking. The project, which was at Sony before landing at Warners, is now being shopped to other studios.
After the jump, read more about the story, this unfortunate turn of events and the actors that were reportedly being eyed for key roles. Read More »
Director Jon Favreau is looking for unknowns to star in his upcoming adaptation of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Jersey Boys. Over the next two weekends, in Philadelphia and New York, he’s looking for male singers to audition for the four lead roles of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the legendary music group at the center of this classic rags to riches story. This means that if you live on the East Coast, are male and can sing, you may just become a superstar.
The site also mentions the film will begin shooting in New York in January 2013. Read more about each role after the jump. Read More »
Posted on Friday, July 13th, 2012 by Angie Han
As film after film gets reworked for the Great White Way, two Broadway smash hits are, in turn, inching closer to the big screen. Universal’s been trying to put together a movie adaptation of Wicked (itself the stage adaptation of Gregory Maguire‘s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West) for a few years now with little to show for it, but now they’re actively courting Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close helmer Stephen Daldry for the gig.
Meanwhile, over at Sony/Columbia, Jon Favreau‘s gone from being the frontrunner to direct the studio’s Jersey Boys pic to actually negotiating for the job. More details on both after the jump.
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After Cowboys & Aliens, Jon Favreau went back to acting for a bit and produced a tiny film called The Avengers, all while developing a movie we’ve been excited about since its announcement: Disney’s Magic Kingdom. It seems as if that film might be on hold, though, as Favreau has now emerged as the front runner to direct the film adaptation of the Broadway smash hit Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. The musical turned film tells the rags to riches story of the music legends responsible for classic songs Oh What A Night, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Rag Doll, Sherry, and Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.
John Logan (Hugo, Skyfall, Lincoln) has been working on the script. Read more after the jump. Read More »
Late late year, the rights to one of Broadway’s biggest hits went up on the auction block. Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons was coveted by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox. They all lost out. GK Films paid over seven figures for the musical and after a year without any movement, they’ve finally hired a screenwriter.
John Logan will adapt the real life rags to riches story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, a legendary musical group who went from the street corners of New Jersey to massive musical success with songs such as Oh What A Night, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Rag Doll, Sherry, and Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You. Recently, Logan wrote Hugo for Martin Scorsese but he also wrote Gladiator for Ridley Scott, Any Given Sunday for Oliver Stone, Sweeney Todd for Tim Burton and Rango for Gore Verbinski. Two of his latest scripts, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln and Sam Mendes’ James Bond film Skyfall, are currently in production. Wow. What a resume.
Read more about the film after the jump. Read More »
One of the biggest and most celebrated Broadway musicals of the past decade is finally coming to the big screen. The film rights to the Tony award winning Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons have just been purchased in an auction that was rumored to have included Steven Spielberg at DreamWorks, Tom Hanks at Playtone, Warner Brothers and Fox. None of them won, however. The rights were actually sold for a reported “substantial seven figures” to Graham King and GK Films who just released The Town and has an impressive slate of films coming up including The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, Martin Scorsese’s latest Hugo Cabaret, the Gore Verbinski film Rango and others.
Jersey Boys is based on the real life rags to riches story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons who went from the street corners for New Jersey to massive musical success with songs such as Oh What A Night, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Rag Doll, Sherry, and Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You. Hit the jump for more on the deal, the musical and even a video. Read More »
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