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Wednesday
21Oct2009

'Precious' Director Might Make 'Miss Saigon' Musical

DateWednesday, October 21, 2009 at 10:47AM
On the heels of the positive word of mouth brewing for his upcoming Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, producer and director Lee Daniels is in line for a major follow-up. Though nothing is official, former United Artists executive Paula Wagner wants Daniels for a big screen version of Miss Saigon.

There is, of course, a high degree of difficulty with that project, but there's also a ton of potential. Says Variety, "The movie will be faithful to Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's tragic love story of a Vietnamese bar girl and an American soldier before the fall of Saigon in 1975."

"Faithful" could mean a lot of things in this scenario. You could be "faithful" to the spirit and overriding story, you could keep the songs the way they are, or you could throw the musical on screen as is, which is the worst option available in pretty much every case. Even though Miss Saigon, like most Broadway musicals, is incredibly well known just the way it is, you still have to make a movie with it. It's the same process books go through when they're adapted.

There's no screenwriter yet - and that would tell us a few things about where this project is headed - and Wagner wants to go into production next year for a possible 2011 release. Daniels, while apparently mentioning the project over the past few months or so, is not locked in to direct just yet. If he pulls it off, good for him. But that's easier said than done.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | CommentPost a Comment |

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