With the new success of big screne musicals on the rise, Universal Pictures has signed Outkast members Andre 3000 and Big Boi for there next lyrical blockbuster. Variety has the story behind writer/director Bryan Barber (Outkast videos) and how he screened a 5 minuet test at Cannes this year to solidify the go ahead for the project -yep 5 minuets is about all I could take as well-. Aparently HBO is backing much of this project and is currently holding a budget of $15 million. Set in the south this time period piece has big ambitions which is obvious after seeing the line up.
The pic, a full-blown tuner that is set in a speakeasy in the South during Prohibition, drew an ensemble that includes Ving Rhames, Terrence Howard, Faizon Love, Malinda Williams, Paula Jai Parker, Jackie Long, Patti LaBelle, Cicely Tyson, Ben Vereen, Macy Gray and newcomer Paula Patton.
So pretty much Lackawanna Blues with a buch of singing and dancing. Perhaps the musical bit is going a tad overboard now. Moulin Rouge was great because it was original, new and was put together very artistically. Chicago was all right but I wasn’t that keen on watching Richard Gere prance around. As much as I did like The Phantom of the Opera -and Emmy Rossum’s heaving breasts- it was rather melodramatic. So are we kicking a dead horse here, or is there something still to sell?
What do you think? Should they continue to produce big screne musicals, or are they getting out of control?
