The assumed success of McG‘s upcoming Terminator Salvation has brought the director a wealth of future projects to choose between. He’s already been attached to a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake with Will Smith as Captain Nemo as well as the action thriller Dead Spy Running. According to The Hollywood Reporter though, both of those blockbuster flicks may be taking a back seat to something decidedly different. A musical.
McG is in talks to bring the recent Broadway hit Spring Awakening to the big screen. The musical is a fusion of sharp characters and insightful commentary by writer Steven Sater and rockin’ tunes courtesy of Duncan Sheik. It recently won several Tony Awards including ones for Best Musical and Best Score. The story is based on a German play from 1891 and takes place in the 19th century. Before you dismiss it based purely on it’s antiquated origin remember that it’s a rock musical… about sexually active teenagers, masturbation, rape, abortion, and suicide. (And probably in that order…)
Sheik is still probably best known as the one-hit wonder behind the song “Barely Breathing” but he should be known as something else. The bastard. He stole my then-girlfriend’s heart in late 2000 which led invariably to a mutual break-up months later. To be fair, it was more the idea of Sheik than the man himself, and to be more fair we were heading for a split anyway, but it still contributed to her moving to NYC in search of chic where conveniently enough she’s gone on to actually meet him a few times. Tony-winning bastard.
There’s a video on Youtube with footage from the show including song and dance snippets as well as an interview with Sheik the bastard. (Thanks to RopeOfSilicon for the heads up.)
Have you seen the stage musical? Can it make a good movie? Do you have any Sheik on your mp3 player?
