Musicals On Key Again
LOS ANGELES — Dead. Embalmed. Buried. A year ago, that is what most movie studios would have said about live-action musicals, pointing to a long line of box office calamities: “Rock of Ages,” “Burlesque,” “Jersey Boys,” “Across the Universe,” “Nine.”
The few out- and- out successes in recent decades have been adaptations of Broadway classics (“Les Misérables,” 2012) or marketed in misleading ways. When 20th Century Fox was selling Baz Luhrmann’s hit “Moulin Rouge!” in 2001, the studio was so afraid that people would stay home if they knew it was a musical that the trailer rather awkwardly tried to avoid singing at all costs.
But Hollywood, excited in part by the critical and commercial success of “La La Land,” which cost Lionsgate $ 30 million to make and has taken in $132 million worldwide as it streaks toward the Academy Awards, is taking note again.
There are roughly 20 musicals in the works at studios, according to the film database IMDBpro. Some are live-action adaptations of classic animated musicals, like “Beauty and the Beast,” set for release by Disney in March. Others are films (among them, “Wicked”) based on contemporary Broadway hits.
Moreover, several studios are devoting meaningful resources to break-into- song films with original music. This year, Fox will release “The Greatest Showman,” which stars Hugh Jackman as the circus impresario P. T. Barnum; it has a dozen original songs. Disney has “Bob the Musical,” about a man whose life becomes filled with song after a head injury. Universal Pictures won a bidding war for an untitled musical comedy starring Josh Gad.
There are several reasons for renewed studio interest, said Marc Platt, a “La La Land” producer. “Thankfully, as much as Hollywood is interested in brands, I think people are still looking for originality and freshness,” Mr. Platt said. “Musicals can also be their own brand: They have an event status. I also think the ceiling on the audience is lifting. You’ve got a new generation of fans who have grown up with television shows like ‘Glee.’ ”
Some studio executives said that they were becoming more open to musicals because the animated variety had experienced such a renaissance.
“Frozen” was a monster hit, selling $1.3 billion in tickets worldwide. Over the past few months, three animated musicals — “Sing,” “Moana” and “Trolls” — have taken in a combined $1 billion at the global box office.
Still, not everyone in Hollywood is convinced of a musical comeback. Kevin Goetz, chief executive of the film research company Screen Engine/ASI, said in an email that he had no research indicating increased demand.
“I think it’s a long shot to think that animated movies with music, which have been around for years now, have a material effect in increasing the desire to see live- action musicals,” he added.