Collider has interviewed The Departed producer Graham King on the upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic starring Sacha Baron Cohen, a fascinating project if even there was one, but King also let slip some details on the adaptation of the popular Broadway musical Jersey Boys, tracing the life and hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, which will apparently be shooting late 2012.
In the interview, King says that changes will have to be made to the Broadway show, which makes sense given that it is largely a jukebox musical with linking segments on their lives. King went on to talk about the shooting schedule and elaborate on the ‘DNA’ of the musical.
Well, again, we’re hoping to be shooting this time next year. No director yet set, but we’re getting the script written right now. When you transform a stage play to the big screen, it’s never that easy because, obviously, the differences of telling the story and the characters. This one, again—it’s such a, like you say, hugely popular show. And there’s much more to these guys’ lives then, obviously, what’s in the show. So it’s bringing that out, and getting all the resource material together to make a movie based on Jersey Boys. The DNA is going to be the same. The DNA of the movie is going to be the same. But you’ve gotta get drama within those characters. (For the full interview, please visit Collider).
Jersey Boys opened on Broadway in 2005, and won four Tony Awards including Best Musical at the 2006 ceremony. It has also had a US tour, along with productions at London’s West End, Las Vegas, Chicago, Toronto, Melbourne, Sydney and Philadelphia. With music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, the hits include “Sherry”, “Walk Like a Man”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” and Valli’s solo “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.
The Reel Bits confesses to having seen it twice, with a third coming up next month.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H78l0ArPEiY
