After Mean Girls, Seven Other 2004 Films Need The Musical Treatment
Even if you're a huge fan of "Mean Girls," you'll probably begrudgingly acknowledge that it's slightly odd that this high school comedy was adapted into a musical, and then that musical was subsequently adapted back into a movie. The same thing happened recently with "The Color Purple," but that was inspired by a film that came out in 1985, so there are ostensibly multiple generations now that are not familiar with the Steven Spielberg film. In contrast, the first "Mean Girls" only came out 20 years ago. I certainly have nothing against "Mean Girls" — I dug the original film, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new musical version (even if Paramount seems to be trying to hide the very fact that it's a musical from audiences). But the idea that it received the musical treatment at all just seems a little ... random. Of all the American films that came out in 2004, this was the one?
Imagine you had the power to greenlight a movie musical adaptation of any other film from 2004. Which film would you choose, and why? Who might you cast in it?
As Regina George would say, "Get in, losers" — let's have some fun.
Collateral: The Musical, anyone?
Michael Mann's thriller "Collateral" has a couple of aspects that could translate into a great movie musical: well-drawn characters with differing worldviews (assassin Vincent and cabbie Max), a killer location (Los Angeles by cab — everyone can relate to singing in the car!), and a premise that provides plenty of opportunities to meet new characters at distinctive locales. Just think of the song the Javier Bardem character could sing about Santa's terrifying helper, or a song about the history of Miles Davis! TikTok ain't ready. Cast Caleb McLaughlin from "Stranger Things" as Max (he has Broadway experience working on "The Lion King") and someone like former Mickey Mouse Club member Ryan Gosling as Vincent, giving him the opportunity to do what Tom Cruise did in the original and play wildly against type, and I feel like there could be some fun opportunities here.
On today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, I gathered all of our regular contributors and we each chose a different movie from 2004 that we thought would make for a fun musical — there are six titles discussed, complete with casting options for the lead roles. Give it a listen below, and let us know what you thought about our choices:
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