Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray Or The producersall these films were first brought to the screen without dancing or song, before being adapted to the theater as musicals, then brought to the screen again in their new form, sometimes more successful than the work original.
This is also the case of Mean Girls, Lolita in spite of myself which hits theaters this Wednesday. Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. revisited the cult film directed in 2023 by Mark Waters in the style of a Broadway “musical”, transporting a teenager into the merciless world of a high school where the girls engage in a fight mercilessly to remain popular.
Why remake the film when it has already been made? And above all why adopt the genre of “musical”? “I understand that relying on a successful film can inspire producers of musicals,” explains 20 minutes Laurent Valièreproducer of the show 42nd street broadcast on Sundays at 1 p.m. on France Musique. The authors have at their disposal a solid and proven story to develop their libretto. »
A new audience
Tina Fey, comedian and author of the first film has returned to service with dynamism for this new version. “ Mean Girls clearly targets an audience of teenage girls, specifies Laurent Valière. Especially in the United States where this type of show is in their DNA: everyone has already performed in a high school musical. » In France, the tradition is less anchored although the recent successes of Wonka and of wish tend to show that mentalities are changing.
“Films like Mean Girls bring a fresh look to the works from which they draw inspiration, insists Laurent Valière. The different adventures allow us to approach several types of songs and atmospheres to increase the emotions of the audience tenfold. »
Surprising ideas
Another film to reinvent yourself in song: The Color Purple by Steven Spielberg, whose “musical” that signs Blitz Bazawule, very moving, is released in cinemas in France on January 24. “We are sometimes skeptical when we hear about certain projects, but the Americans are really good at this type of adaptation,” underlines Laurent Valière. And the French seem ready to embark on the adventure: Hate by Mathieu Kassovitz should become a musical show at the end of 2024.