Hairspray' Adam Shankman To Direct Screen Version Of Rock Of Ages
October 19, 2009, 15 years ago
According to Variety, Hairspray helmer Adam Shankman is signing on to direct and choreograph Rock Of Ages, the screen version of the Broadway musical for New Line Cinema.
The film will begin production by next summer, and will be released by Warner Bros. in 2011.
The musical’s creator, Chris D’Arienzo, scripted the movie adaptation. Carl Levin, Matt Weaver, Scott Prisand, Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Gibgot will produce, and Janet Billig and Hillary Weaver are executive producers.
Shankman will move from the '60s music of Hairspray into the signature 80s rock anthems that drive Rock Of Ages. While it seems a stretch, Shankman reminds me that among the many videos he choreographed back in the day was the 1991 tune 'Get the Funk Out' by EXTREME, one of those 80s big-hair bands. And his father was a music manager whose clients included Barry White, so Shankman feels he knows the world.
“I had the best time of my life making Hairspray and badly wanted another musical, and when I watched Rock Of Ages, I was struck by the fact that not only had much of the audience seen it more than once, every guy in the audience knew the words to the songs,” Shankman said. “I thought, 'this is Mamma Mia! for dudes.' What an extraordinary opportunity to open the genre to an audience that otherwise wouldn’t go see a musical.”The musical tells the story of a couple that meets at the Sunset Strip club Rock Of Ages, falls in love and tries to stay together amid the rough and tumble rock lifestyle. The cast finds reasons to belt out 80s rock anthems made popular by JOURNEY, TWISTED SISTER, JOAN JETT, BON JOVI, PAT BENATAR and other MTV generation staples.
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