Billy Elliot The Musical: The Movie

[ERinVA]

There has actually been some talk about this, if I remember correctly.

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/02/18/st ... reluctant/

[dongringo]

I would definitely welcome a filming of the live show on DVD. I don't know about a movie version of the musical. It didn't work well for Phantom of the Opera. But you never know. If it was done right it could be good.

[ERinVA]

With the same creative team, maybe.... They certainly did well with the first two incarnations.

[dongringo]

With the same creative team, maybe.... They certainly did well with the first two incarnations.

Good point. The same team could certainly pull it off.

[LiamM]

I can image something like the movie version of Mamma Mia!: Filmed on location, like any live action film, except that it breaks into song like a musical. The original film already had an Angry Dance. The trick would be to pull it off without it looking silly. We can accept dancing dresses on the stage, but would that work in film? Some numbers would be a bigger challenge. "Solidarity" brilliantly blends the confrontation of miners and police with the ballet class. But if this were filmed live action, where would it happen? It wouldn't make sense to start the scene in the ballet class and have the miners and police enter, as they do in the musical. So, it would take some work to adapt it back to film, particularly if there was a desire to make minimal changes to the music.

From an economic standpoint, it makes the most sense to keep quiet about any plans while the stage show is still making money. We don't want people not seeing the show because they figure they can catch the film. It's best to wait until the tours are no longer able to draw a crowd with $100 tickets, then open the film which people can watch for $10.

[Steamboy]

One of the problems with the movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera' is that ALW had rearranged a number of things to make the show work for the stage (act break for an intermission, unmasking the Phantom in a crowd instead of alone with Christine so that here would be a crowd onstage to react with horror, the half mask so that the actor had some face to work with and a less muffled voice, etc.), but they weren't changed back for the movie. I think that the BETM team would be able to avoid that pitfall, given their experience in both the stage and film worlds.

One comment Daldrey has made in the past is that when they were putting the stage version together, they were collectively able to say 'we only spent a few hours working up that scene for the movie, and we never were quite happy with it... let's change it'. I suspect that a new, musical movie version would have similar tinkerings and improvements. I'm imagining 'Expressing Yourself' freed of all constraints of time, space, and budget - perhaps Michael would lead Billy on a whirlwind shopping tour of all the high end clothes stores in London, culminating in leading 10,000 dancers in a kickline in Trafalgar Square...)

As for things like 'Solidarity', I would expect it to be filmed more as a montage of two scenes (picket line and dance class) instead of intertwined choreography. The combination works on stage due to the greater suspension of disbelief that theater generally commands, whereas audiences usually expect more realistic images from film (although I could see the ballet girls passing a picket line, or miners passing through the Hall on the way to the pickets).

Recording a stage production can be a great way to preserve a performance, but the ones I've seen never quite let me forget I'm watching a film of a stage show. A middle ground is to film on a stagey-looking set (the 1980's 'Pirates of Penzance' movie comes to mind), but that tends to work best with more stylized scripts.

If they film a stage version, I think they'd likely use one of the then-currrent Billys, probably one of the older ones so that they can film as many hours in the day as possible (similar to using Colin Bates, post-16th birthday, in the EPK). If it's a true movie musical, I think it could very well be a fresh new Billy we haven't seen before, as they wouldn't need to be able to do the entire show at a go for filming, and would need some slightly different acting skills for filming. However, being Billy on stage for a few months would be a great training ground for finding the character on film.

[cws8998]

Not only was "Phantom" film a disaster at the box office but I also recall "A Chorus Line" taking a bath, as well, both tremendously powerful stage musicals. Given my love for BETM, I guess I"d admit that It would scare the hell out of me should they decide to make a movie of it, given I was also in love with "Chorus" and the "Phantom." But, if it happens you can bet I'd be first in line to buy a ticket hoping...just hoping...it would be as phenomenal as each subsequent version I see on stage. With Daldry and company in charge, one would think it would have a decent shot to make it as a film. Just a thought. Colin

[angelenroute]

If it's a true movie musical, I think it could very well be a fresh new Billy we haven't seen before, as they wouldn't need to be able to do the entire show at a go for filming, and would need some slightly different acting skills for filming. However, being Billy on stage for a few months would be a great training ground for finding the character on film.

They could cast an 11- or 12-year-old who they know will nail it, and then after filming is done, have him go into the live stage show AFTERWARD. The beauty of that would be, just as the movie comes out, people can actually try to catch the show and see the movie's star. The downside though is it takes away from whatever boys are on in the rotation too.

Either way, I think a movie version of the musical (not a live filming which effectively becomes a legal bootleg haha) would be awesome. You can always do the live filming of the stage show for DVD release later on whenever the show is close to cloosing (purposely misspelled cause I can't bring myself to say the word).

Sean

[CJ-Rochester]

I happen to like musicals made into movies, but not all of them work. Recent ones I liked were: Dreamgirls, Hairspray, and The Producers. All of them managed to keep the spirit that made their stage versions successful.

I hated Phantom, Nine, and Sweeney Todd as movies, even though I like all of them on stage. In these cases a director or producer reimagined the stories and completely changed them. The changes to Sweeney Todd were particularly surprising to me, since I had heard that Sondheim was involved and had given the movie his blessing.

One of the factors that attracts us to BETM is the achievement of the talented young actors who play the lead on stage. At every performance we witness a young lad grow and develop his skills in dance. The culmination of this of course is "Electricity". My point here is that in the stage version, Billy's development as a dancer and his performance in the key numbers are very theatrical. We are constantly amazed that a child can do such things!

The first "Billy Elliot" movie worked because it focused well on Jamie Bell's great performance as an actor and dancer, and also on the larger story of the community. Any future movie will have to do the same, ie: keep true to the spirit of both the first movie and the stage musical.

[angelenroute]

I hated Phantom, Nine, and Sweeney Todd as movies, even though I like all of them on stage.

I loved the movie version of Phantom and the movie version of Sweeney Todd, although since I never saw ST on stage maybe that helped. Phantom was different but I loved the way they told the backstory in the movie. As usual, to each his own.