Can the musical "Hairspray" bring back Muppet Movies?

[MuppetNewsHound]

Hello,

Some have speculated that with the recent success of 'the musical' (Hairspray) in theatres, this might help with the interest of getting the Muppets back on screen with another musical movie? Any thoughts?


Brian:)

[Beakerfan]

I think musicals are becoming very popular. I mean, theres: Highschool Musical, Hairspray, Dreamgirls, just to name a few. I certainly hope they help bring the muppets back around.

[Winslow Leach]

Chicago was a biggee...

Sweeney Todd is coming up...

I heard a rumor that Jersey Boys may get the big-screen treatment...

I'm hoping for a restored Little Shop of Horrors...

Why not a big-screen musical Muppet movie?

[jacobsnchz]

High School Musical officially brought back the movie-musical. Hairspray brought that popularity to the big screen when HSM brought it to the TV screen. They have been showing alot of movie-musicals since HSM came out.

[redBoobergurl]

Not to discount High School Musical or anything, but I think Moulan Rouge brought back the movie-musical.

[heralde]

Yeah no offence to HSM fans, but Moulan Rouge brought back the movie musical. :)

[SarahOnBway]

I agree with Red. It was Moulin Rouge's ingenuity and the smash success of Chicago that made movie musicals profitable again. Still, there have been movie musical BOMBS since then (The Producers, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent), but movie studios are much more welcoming to the idea of producing a movie musical.

And if you want my opinion, the only thing High School Musical did was
make tweens EVEN MORE annoying than before. And sell a lot of stuff.

[heralde]

Just wanted to add that personally I didn't think Chicago was very well thought out as a movie. I only enjoyed a couple of moments. Phantom was pretty good, but I don't really like the musical to begin with, heh. The Producers was disapointing since the stage musical was so amazing.

It would be great if more movie musicals were done, but they have to be done well.

[Winslow Leach]

And if you want my opinion, the only thing High School Musical did was
make tweens EVEN MORE annoying than before. And sell a lot of stuff.

LOL!

That's the funniest thing I've read all day!:D :D

[erniebert1234ss]

[...] It was Moulin Rouge's ingenuity and the smash success of Chicago that made movie musicals profitable again. Still, there have been movie musical BOMBS since then (The Producers, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent) [...]

Hold up. RENT was a movie musical BOMB? More like a BOMBSHELL! (sorry, I had to get that joke in there :smirk: ) But seriously, I thought Rent was a FANTASTIC movie musical...

BJ

[Winslow Leach]

Just wanted to add that personally I didn't think Chicago was very well thought out as a movie. I only enjoyed a couple of moments. Phantom was pretty good, but I don't really like the musical to begin with, heh. The Producers was disapointing since the stage musical was so amazing.

It would be great if more movie musicals were done, but they have to be done well.

I sorta liked Chicago. John C. Reilly was the standout for me. The stage production is much better, IMO. I agree that the film version of the Broadway Producers was disappointing. Again, I enjoyed the show more.

[SarahOnBway]

Hold up. RENT was a movie musical BOMB? More like a BOMBSHELL! (sorry, I had to get that joke in there :smirk: ) But seriously, I thought Rent was a FANTASTIC movie musical...

BJ

Doesn't really matter what people *thought* of the movie--it bombed at the box office. Personally, I think Chris Columbus should never direct again after turning Rent into a collection of music videos and cutting out the emotional center (Halloween and the fight between Mark and Roger in Goodbye Love being the most obvious cuts). But yeah, Rent didn't do as well as they'd hoped and neither did the others I mentioned. As for my opinion of them, well, I HATE Phantom, as it was one of my favorite shows and Gerald Butler/Emmy Rossum MASSACRED it--and Joel Schumacher did his part. A SWORD fight? And I liked The Producers--but I can see where they went wrong.

Hairspray is amazing though. John Travolta freaks me out and Amanda Bynes is annoying (and did anyone else notice how she turns orange halfway though the movie?) but it is such a ROUSING good time! I saw it opening day and I really want to see it again :)

[erniebert1234ss]

Okay, a BOX-OFFICE bomb then. That I can certainly understand, not very many people have heard of RENT. Heck, maybe they'll even get a movie version of Wicked up on the big screen. Especially if they get Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel to reprise their roles. Not so much Norbert Leo Butz, but if he is willing to reprise, then so be it.

As for Hairspray, I'll probably wait till DVD. There's no use in seeing it in the theaters.

BJ

[Drtooth]

I agree with Red. It was Moulin Rouge's ingenuity and the smash success of Chicago that made movie musicals profitable again. Still, there have been movie musical BOMBS since then (The Producers, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent), but movie studios are much more welcoming to the idea of producing a movie musical.

Well, that's cuz someone had the bright idea to say... HEY! Let's make sure the Producers is only in snotty art house film houses, and not nationally released. It really deserved a better, wider release. Rent and Phantom I could care less about, but considering Mel Brooks had the RIGHT idea (where Hairspray went wrong IMO) and got the original cast to reprise their roles. And in the case of Will Ferrel and Uma Thurman, they did their roles perfectly... and I'm not even a fan of Will. I still think there's no touching Kennith Mars's Neo-Nazi playwrite, but Will did a hillarious job.

And if you want my opinion, the only thing High School Musical did was
make tweens EVEN MORE annoying than before. And sell a lot of stuff.


And make sure that Disney channel was number one, cursing Nick and Cartoon Network to horrible live action shows that make Disney's look decent by comparison.

[Winslow Leach]

Well, that's cuz someone had the bright idea to say... HEY! Let's make sure the Producers is only in snotty art house film houses, and not nationally released. It really deserved a better, wider release.

I assumed The Producers did have a national release. I saw it in the ordinary multiplex I see all my movies in. I didn't have to go out of the way to see it. I know the film received a lot of harsh reviews, and didn't last too long in theatres, but it was playing alongside more mainstream "popcorn" films, at least in my area.

[Drtooth]

Probably just in your area. We had the same problem with Spirited Away getting released here. Only the art house theaters got it, and it wasn't out very long.

I couldn't even FIND the Producers. I think it was just about the time the Oscars were announced, and the theaters did that "Let's make ourselves look artistic by showing the movies we totally ignored when they first came out cuz we needed to show Daddy Day care or crap like that." I had to wait until it hit the cheap theaters to see it, and even then only one theater played it. And I'm from around Boston, the art snob capital of the US, right up there with New York City. We SHOULD get these kinds of films released EVERYWHERE, not just a midnight showing at someplace I can't get to, cuz the subways shut down.

[Telly]

I heard if they do Wicked, it would be animated. Hopefully old-fashioned drawing animated and not computer animated. Those need to end.

I've like all of the movie-musicals so far. Hairspray was the best movie I've seen this summer.

[Drtooth]

It's not that I hate CGI. I enjoy it. but Pixar is the ONLY studio that gets it right. I don't know what special ingredients they put into everything, but they manage to mix cartoonish stylization and realism flawlessly. I hate something too realistic.

[Telly]

I'm tired of computer animated movies. Bring back the old-school style!

[anytimepally]

And if you want my opinion, the only thing High School Musical did was make tweens EVEN MORE annoying than before. And sell a lot of stuff.

haha :p

[Morgan Clueless]

First of all, I think a Muppet musical/movie is a great idea, so long as the music and/or plot is/are original. (As much as I enjoyed Muppet Treasure Island, it'd be nice to have a whiff of originality from the writer and creator themselves.)

The rest of what I'm about to say is pretty much off-topic, question-wise, but: I personally love Phantom of the Opera, as well as Little Shop of Horrors, and I rather enjoyed Rent; the other movies mentioned (with the exception of High School Musical) I've never seen. And while I didn't completely hate HSM, I agree with whoever said that all it did was sell and make tweens more annoying.

[Ilikemuppets]

WOW! I really loved spirited Away! That was simply amazing!