Welcome to Rumorville! Here you can learn about casting news that’s about to break in Hollywood. These speculations might be only rumors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t follow the trail all the way to the audition room.
“Beetlejuice” on Broadway
It’s a thought so nice you can say it thrice. The long-in-development “Beetlejuice” musical, based on the Tim Burton classic film, has set dates for a pre-Broadway engagement at Washington, D.C.’s National Theatre this October. And then, of course, the next stop should be New York. Eddie Perfect, who’s currently also at work on Broadway’s “King Kong,” is writing the music and lyrics for the show, with a book written by Scott Brown and Anthony King, and direction from “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” helmer Alex Timbers (also currently working on a stage version of “Moulin Rouge”). Telsey + Company is currently casting for the Washington, D.C. run, but there is no update on what will happen to that cast if and when the show heads to Broadway.
“Vacation” the musical
Warner Bros.’s theatrical dreams are not stopping with Beetlejuice. A musical adaptation of the 1993 film “Dave,” as well as hopeful adaptations of “A Star is Born,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” and “17 Again” are all reportedly in the works. Recently getting added to the list, though, is a new musical based on the characters of the “Vacation” franchise, starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo and now in development by Ken Davenport and Kurt Deutsch. Davenport recently also obtained the rights to a stage version of “Joy,” and Deutsch has long been on the musical theatre side of things with Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records. So, the musical part isn’t a stress, but Broadway is rife with adaptations of movies—and just from Warner Bros. alone, it seems, so it’s not a surprise they are giving this a try, but past seasons have shown that musical adaptations of movies aren’t always the crowd pleasers they are expected to be.
“Bad Education” with Hugh Jackman
“The Greatest Showman” has long been a moniker for Hugh Jackman, even before his recent role on the big screen in the high-flying box office success of that name. It looks like Jackman is eyeing the Automatik flick “Bad Education” for his next turn as leading man.. Plot details are being kept under wraps for now, but it is being described as having an “Election” feeling and being based on events that happened in writer Mike Makowsky’s high school. Cory Finley will be directing this, who just finished and debuted the Sundance hit “Thoroughbreds”— it wouldn’t be surprising if he goes back to casting directors Douglas Aibel and Stephanie Holbrook for this, too.
Ben Sinclair’s Prison Dance Movie
While HBO’s “High Maintenance” is clearly working out for them, creator and star Ben Sinclair is sticking with what he knows and is apparently working on his next project: a prison dance movie, written with cannabis journalist Abdullah Saeed, and produced and distributed by New Regency and Fox Searchlight. Sinclair will also be directing, and no details have been revealed yet as to what the film is actually about, but one thing that is certain is that it will be a musical. The project is only in script phase, so it too early for casting news, but the wise move would definitely be to stick with “High Maintenance” Christine Kromer.
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