Can Spring Awakening be made into a credible film — and is McG the producer and director to do it? Yeesh. Unless the natural progression is now 1891 controversial German play –> Duncan Sheik-penned rock opera –> Explosions.
Could McG conceivably pull off the emotional stories of teen sexuality and identity, of power struggles, and the search for meaning within conscripted bounds? Sure. I hope he does. But I’ve seen Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, and while I enjoyed both, neither stands out as particularly nuanced or evocative. McG’s body of work* — again, much of which I’ve enjoyed on some level — lives within pretty mainstream constructs of sex and power, and I’m not sure I believe the executive producer of Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious can make a rock anthem about masturbation not seem like a joke. But maybe I’m wrong, and the guy who shouted "Do you want to see Moon’s boobs in the picture?" to a crowd of Terminator fans really does have a rich and compassionate understanding of sexual identity and self-image. Here’s hoping!
Beyond McG, there’s also the question of how translatable the show is, period. I’m nuts about the music parts, but a lot of the rest seems stilted, plus I worry that film isn’t the ideal medium to capture a sense of cultural claustrophobia…that gets expressed through bold musical numbers.
What about you, PopWatchers? Is McG singing your song of purple summer?
*I’m chalking up most of the empathy on The O.C. and Chuck to Josh Schwartz.
Seriously ?!?
Oh lord…the play is certainly an interesting one, but the numbers in the musical are godawful and watching any production of the play feels more like an intellectual exercise than a leisure activity – it’s the sort of play you’re better off reading at home than going to see, so I don’t really see how it’s going to work on film.
it would be awesome! any way that this music and story gets spread to a national audience is a good thing. don’t think mcg would f it up
Yeah, I only choose to acknowledge the brilliance that is Chuck until he proves himself elsewhere, especially since the brilliance of Chuck lays mostly with the cast, Josh Schwartz, and Chris Fedak. Oh, but McG did produce some Supernatural episodes as well….
this is exactly like when chris columbus directed rent – just the wrong director for the right material. i’d rather see someone like spike jonze or ang lee take on the project.
Yes! Ang Lee would be perfect! I don’t know – I half love the idea of a film version, but am afraid it just won’t translate like the article said. Plus, I wonder if he’d try to get the original cast?
I really believe this movie should be made. Not sure about McG but I’ll give him the chance. I really wanna be Melchior!
I vote for Ang Lee…and yes, this movie NEEDS to be made. It was relavent back then and now
This has the potential to be absolutely wonderful. They better go through with it.