11 Movies That Should Be Musicals
Films that need to shift from screen to stage...
BY May 19th 2009 12:12PMFILED UNDER: Features
User Comments (10)
Blade Runner (1982)
The film: Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a retired 'Blade Runner', a type of cop who hunts down rogue cyborg ‘replicants’.
When four replicants steal a spaceship and return to earth in search of their maker, Deckard is asked to hunt them down and terminate them.
Why it ought to be a musical: Sci-fi is not a genre well represented in musical theatre. Unless you count Starlight Express… which we don’t.
It'd be a thrilling challenge for set designers, who would have to create the 'used future' look of Blade Runner, with none of the sugary glaze of many stage musicals.
Music & lyrics by... Vangelis, who composed the original score, working with Jon Anderson from Yes. The pair collaborated on a couple of essential albums in the early '80s and they'd nail that retro-synth sheen.
Hit Songs: 'Unicorn Dream', 'Attack Ships On Fire Off The Shoulder of Orion', 'Put Your Hands On Me' and 'I’m In Love With A Replicant”. Also, the heartfelt existential theme from Roy Batty - 'I'll Find My Way Home'.
‘The Replicant Slide’ will become a dance-floor sensation in clubs the world over.
Producer’s notes: After a limited initial run, should be re-released in ten years to great acclaim and audience adulation.
Next: The Big Lebowski
Print Comments (10)
1: jollieoldtime says
They totally made Evil Dead a musical off-Broadway.
They basically spent the entire time throwing blood on the audience. It was awesome.
Posted: May 20th 2009 // 8:30PMAlert a moderator
2: mic2803 says
definately 300 the musical starring john barrowman as Leonidas. giant elephants with the same technique as the west-end lion king. music and lyrics by muse perhaps?
Posted: May 20th 2009 // 10:49PMAlert a moderator
3: ebrown2112 says
Kevin Smith's ok, but New Jersey's finest? You're forgetting John Sayles.
Posted: May 22nd 2009 // 9:35AMAlert a moderator
4: Kelisha888 says
Well, at least you mentioned Sondheim - who at least knows how to write a musical. I can't help but thinking Andrew Lloyd Weber should write the music to Blade Runner.
Posted: May 22nd 2009 // 12:11PMAlert a moderator
5: jws1272 says
There's a production of Evil Dead:The Musical playing here in Cleveland, Ohio, USA right now. I've got tix for May 29! Not in the Splatter Zone (yes, they do spray blood at the audience), but tix nonetheless. Can't wait to see it. I've seen some footage from the Toronto production, & they DO reference the Boomstick speech from AOD.
Posted: May 22nd 2009 // 8:01PMAlert a moderator
6: Phoenixtorn says
I saw the Evil Dead musical twice when it was here in Toronto (and saw the cast perform some of the songs at a convention). It was great and so much fun! An army of Darkness Sequel would be pretty spectacular. lol
Posted: May 22nd 2009 // 10:28PMAlert a moderator
7: dgoodswen says
It has become an unrelenting priority to get tix to the Evil Dead musical... in the splatter zone!
Posted: May 23rd 2009 // 1:40AMAlert a moderator
8: MovieDearest says
I'm pretty sure I just read recently that "Heathers" is being turned into a musical ... so one down, 10 more to go!
And don't forget the odd rumor that "Fight Club" may be turned into a musical, as well as "Wet Hot American Summer".
Posted: May 23rd 2009 // 7:07AMAlert a moderator
9: shovel says
Heathers! the Musical. awesome. but it can't happen without "cornnuts," either a rock ballad or dancy number for heather's last words. ooh. perhaps the old jingle "bust a nut" can be used.
Posted: May 23rd 2009 // 11:12PMAlert a moderator
10: magic8387 says
"The Jerk". It's already got a couple of musical pieces in it, and room for so many more. Open with his black family singing on the porch, the big dance number where he finds his rythym, along with "I'm somebody now!", "He hates these cans", "I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit", A musical pitch of the Opti-grab, "I AM A n****r!" and of course "All I need is..."
It'd be perfect.
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