backstage.com: Love the movie, then see the play. Sony is banking on its catalog of films finding new life on the boards. In a new deal with “The Color Purple” producer Scott Sanders, the entertainment giant is backing stage productions of its films. The five-year deal, announced last week, sees Sony Pictures Entertainment buying a 20 percent stake in Scott Sanders Theatrical Productions. “Expanding our successful relationship with Scott Sanders was the natural next step that provides the studio with a talented Broadway partner to help bring our film and TV libraries to the stage, and further diversify the studio’s entertainment offerings,” Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of SPE, said in a statement.
18 comments:
This is a good move from Sony and Sanders. Sony has an extensive database of films which could be easily adapted for the stage. Tootsie as their first collaboration is probably the safest option in my opinion due to the fact that the film was highly theatrical. It is also a very popular, hilarious, easily adaptable comedy, which was nominated for many awards.
The key to the success of this collaboration is not simply selecting good films, but ensuring that the stage play isn't too different from the screenplay, because audiences will be going with their previous knowledge and certain expectations from loving the films. The producers just need to keep their audiences in mind always!!
This move in my opinion is a great idea and I think could be a very large success. Which movies and how they are redone is a critical component of the success of the film. I do agree with Jamila comment on not altering the original plot to much. Because when you recreate something that people have not seen in many years, the production can mess with the nostalgia of the memory. People often remember things a little better then they were, so the production needs to be careful of that fact. Other then that I think it is a great idea. This could lead to tons of jobs in the industry (which I love, means I might have one when I get out) and could lead to more quality theatre entertainment.
investing in movie inspired plays and musicals is really becoming the new Broadway "fad". Look at Shrek, Legally Blond, Spider-man. Even the off off Broadway houses are putting up their take on this with "Silence of the Lambs; The Musical".
As for this specific choice of musical, I personally was not crazy about the movie, but I know it had a large and dedicated fan base. Said fan base would probably go to the show as soon as they could.
Smart move, Sony. Though this seems like a pretty great collaboration right now, I wonder how it'll look in a couple years. I'd hate to see Sony try to alter the shows they invest in just to have their name on it. I'd like for the shows to stay as true to the writing as possible that way we don't see anyone getting screwed over. I'd also like to see less movie-turned-musical-type shows and more original material.
Want a way to *hopefully* make money off of the movies you already own? Turn them into a play! Sony might come out ahead here and might have made a big choice with big payoff. Sanders knows what he does and does it well, so Im sure he didnt just go into thinking something wouldn work.
It will be interesting to see what movies they actually do select over the next 5 years, and how many they expect to bring to broadway. Jamila brings up an interesting point about keeping the play similar to the screenplay. Audiences will expect them to be like the movie and will be disappointed of it changes too much. But I wonder how they can make each play they bring original, what will make it different from the movie? Why would they need or want to turn it into a play? Success comes from originality. Its a lot harder to be "original" these days.
This was an inevitable move of the part of Sony. The movie studios move into live theatrical entertainment is just like a baby moving from crawling to walking. However, it is not necessarily a good idea to do so. It is my belief that Disney and Universal started into the theatrical world with a solid good idea for a show, not just because it was the next logical business move. "Billy Elliot" and "Lion King" started in a basis of a good idea for a show. Disney began its theatrical endeavors with "Beauty and the Beast", a show that was a brilliant concept to begin with. Sony should first have had a good idea before jumping into the industry. Without it, they will sink a small fortune into a worthless enterprise.
I agree with the notion that the move was inevitable. But the success relies heavily of the the strength of the choice. I think that Jamila is spot-on when she suggests that the play shouldn't stray too far from the original script/screenplay/movie. I think the main challenge will be that manipulating time and space is so much more seamless in film, because it's just a matter of editing (and sometimes, more frequently these days special effects) than it is in a theatrical environment.
I'm actually slightly apprehensive about this move. While I do think try to bring a movie is a good idea (It worked quite well in the case of the Lion King), there is a certain tact to bringing a show to broadway. The lion king worked because they had a fresh take on the film. There was different music and the sets and characters had inspirations that were not all from the movie. billy elliot was a great deal more similar to the film, and well it also did well on stage, I didn't think it was as creative (though that is not to day I didn't like it) . The problem with adapting a film for stage is that unlike adapting books, the original media is a visual media in the sense that the viewer has already placed faces and locations to the characters and has an idea what the show should look like. Books are nice because the reader does not have a specific image drilled in to their mind. Well yes they have imagined something, they have not been told what something is supposed to look like by someone else. The latter is much harder to change in the minds eye then the former. I still hope that the adaptations turn out, but I con't go into the show without a little apprehension.
Bringing another major studio into the broadway scene might be the final straw that breaks this fad. The market is already saturated with stage adaptations of films and maybe Sony will be able to make it work but I hope that we see a resurgence of original works on Broadway as a counter surge against this fad of remaking movies. Bringing movies to the stage can work but I feel as though the artistic community could come up with something that is better than remounting a movie that has already stood on its own merit. I could be wrong though.
I can't wait to see what old shows we all know and love are going to be appearing on the big stage. I think that this is a good partnership and investment on both sides. I am however hesitant to see what problems are to arise from this agreement. One in particular that appears to cross a few people's minds is what adaptations and changes are going to be made to the original show. Saunders says, " One goal is to rediscover stories and characters which speak to the human experience and that audiences want to see again but from a new perspective." If too many changes are made to an original classic movie people won't necessarily want to go see it. The whole reason they're interested in seeing it in the first place is because they are get to be reminded of stories they love from the past.
I think in general, regardless of what Sony ends up doing with this opportunity, we need to face the fact that it's not the first and won't be the last time a company or producer attempts this. And with adapting films to plays or musicals, there will also be the same issues that have existed with turning a t.v. series into a film, and also the reboots and remakes of old films. And like has already been said movies that have already attempted this, successful or not. With Sony jumping into the ring with Disney and other companies producing works on Broadway I think we continue to see a decrease in empty venues and more work for the stagehands and shops. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there certainly is a lengthy argument to be had about artist intent and value and the writing of these adaptions. But one way or another it will ultimately spell good things for the commercial side of the industry.
Luke is the oracle of reason. This is a terrible event. We do not need more movies turned into musicals. We want this fad to go away and if Sony helps it go away by jumping on the band wagon so Johnny Come Lately then so be it. However, Broadway is market driven and whatever the people pay for is what they will produce: which is why we have Ghost the Musical. I should not criticize studios from making movie/musicals; I should criticize the folks who pay money to see them.
This new fad of turning movies into musicals is something that I find myself not in total opposition of.
I of course am speaking mainly about The Lion King.
I feel that this particular production (speaking as a huge Disney creep mind you) was very well done, and though possessed similar elements to the movie was very different in style, design, and over all production quality.
Adaption can and is very successful, as long as there is still innovation and freshness in the overall outcome!
It's an interesting point that before the big thing was turning movies into Broadway plays, many ideas for plays simply came from another source - namely books. But it screams lack of creativity when that is all that companies can think of to do anymore. Adaptation after adaptation is opening on Broadway, and it's starting to feel stiflingly stale. It's time for something new and fresh; companies need to stop investing in adaptations and start investing in creative writers.
YAY for profit theatre. We just talked about the fact that in the for profit market of theatre in directing class... the originality of the story isnt as important as the matter of putting butts in seats. If you like the movie... chances are youll see the play. Thats all that matters to profit theatrical industries. As shallow as it is... it cuts checks and thats the goal. smart business move by Sony and maybe (if were lucky) something original and revolutionary MIGHT result.
I think this is a great move on Sony's part, and will definitely widen their market, hopefully successfully. As today's culture is so focused on TV shows and movies, it's only natural that the source of new theatre shows be from these media, in this case, movies. As Adam Feldman wisely put it, "musicals have been adapted from other sources throughout musical-theater history. It’s just that they were adapted from plays or books, because those were the dominant media of their day. Now they’re adapted from movies, because that’s the dominant media of ours.” Audiences are also more likely to attend a show they've heard lots about, or are already familiar with--such as from a movie. Hopefully this move will broaden Broadway's fan-base as a whole, as more people will be experiencing world class theatre.
Just when you thought the commercialism of Broadway couldn't get any worse (I was SURE it couldn't after seeing Green Day's Pseudo-Punk Abomination), here come's a musical rendition of every movie that's ever been popular.
“Our goal is to rediscover stories and characters which speak to the human experience and that audiences want to see again but from a new perspective,” said Sanders.
Please. Their goal is the same as it's always been: to make money. Gobs and gobs of it. Not that I'm cynical, but if what you have in mind is explore the human experience, I can think of a few other titles other than "Tootsie" you might want to consider.
I saw "Billy Eliot" this summer and I won't deny it was entertaining, but that is all it was. While there is definitely a place for sheer entertainment in theater, why couch it in this "human experience" gunk? Just come out and be honest about it! Put a big dollar sign on the marquee and welcome the droves to your doors.
I'm hesitant about this move. Overall I think it's a good idea but Sony needs to know what they are getting into. There are many movies that are made into shows that don't turn out well. The over saturation of the Broadway market with movie musicals makes me very nervous with the future of our industry. It makes it seem to me that we don't have any new ideas. However, I understand that it's much easier many times to put out something that has fan base already than trying to create a fan base. We'll see how this goes.
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