Broadway to turn cult-classic films ‘Groundhog Day’ and ‘American Psycho’ into musicals

While Broadway saw success in turning films such as Billy Elliot, Matilda and Big Fish into musicals in recent years, last year’s critically lauded production of the “Bridges of Madison County” and the recent poor box office performance of “Honeymoon in Vegas” proved that the formula has not yet been mastered. Producers announced this week that the trend will still continue over the new few years, as shows based on the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, David Bowie’s 1976 film Lazarus and the Christian Bale-led 2000 horror classic American Psycho are slated to come to New York.

The musical based off of Groundhog Day, which starred Bill Murray as a TV reporter forced to relive the same day until he gets it right, is reportedly already off to a solid start. It will reportedly be written by Tim Minchin, who helped write the award-winning Matilda musical adaptation, directed by Matthew Warchus, and produced by “The Book of Mormon” lead producer Scott Rudin. While the Broadway house for the musical has not yet been announced, opening night is set for Mar. 9, 2017.

Christian Bale’s cult-classic horror film American Psycho, which was based off of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel of the same name, is expected to spawn its musical in New York sometime next spring. The project has quietly been in development for years, and its music and lyrics come from Tony winning “Spring Awakening” writer Duncan Sheik.

The most unusual upcoming musical is undoubtedly the one which is based on Walter Tevis’ best-selling 1963 novel “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” which was turned into David Bowie’s 1976 film Lazarus. Bowie has signed on to write music for the New York Theater Workshop-produced show, and Enda Walsh, who won a Tony for the Broadway musical version of the hit film Once, will be its director. Performances are expected to start sometime next winter.

 

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