16 Movies That Unexpectedly Became Musicals

Elton John is slated to score an upcoming Broadway production of The Devil Wears Prada, based on both the 2003 Lauren Weisberger novel and the hit 2006 film, with lyricist and writer Paul Rudnick. While neither a production timeline nor casting options have been announced, both of the film’s stars (Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep) have had extensive stage experience in the past — fingers crossed they get cast.

Look out, Fantine: You’ve got some competition for Broadway’s most talked-about prostitute. Julia Roberts’s iconic rom-com getting its own musical adaptation, likely with a 2017 opening night.

Unfortunately, for all of us, it wasn’t Leonardo DiCaprio who reprised his 2002 role of the world-famous impostor (we woulda loved to hear him sing). But the man who did play the character on stage, Norbert Leo Butz, was so good that he picked up a leading actor in a musical Tony award.

The chick flick’s musical adaptation was true to the story (it opened with a song called, “Oh My God You Guys” so what else do you really need to know?). And somehow it seems very appropriate that after the star stepped down, Reese Witherspoon’s next successor was cast via an MTV reality show.

A film about cannibalism and murder may seem like the least likely candidate for theatrical success. But that didn’t stop composer duo Jon and Al Kaplan from debuting Silence! The Musical, a parody of the movie.

Apparently, there’s more overlap than we thought among slapstick-comedy-loving people and theater-going people. Spamalot (as the theatrical adaptation was called) had a successful four-year run in the U.S.

The Steve Martin and Michael Caine movie, in which the two played con men trying to swindle an heiress out of $50,000, is lauded as one of the funniest in history. The musical, however, was met with lukewarm reviews, but managed to run for over a year on Broadway and make its way to London’s West End.

If Les Misérables has taught us anything, it’s that a musical doesn’t need to be happy to be a hit. Same with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s play, which had a nearly four-year run in London, though never premiered on Broadway.

The critically-aclaimed film from Federico Fellini is artsy and dark. Meanwhile, the on-stage version, called Nine (which might sound familiar because that became a movie in 2009), has vaguely similar characters, but unsurprisingly, a totally different vibe.

While dance is an integral part of the movie, Billy Elliot wasn’t exactly West Side Story. That said, the Broadway version was a smash hit and it’s been playing for over a decade on London’s West End.

Don’t expect this one to get all showtunes-y when it premieres later this year. Andrew Lloyd Webber, the master of the “rock opera,” is composing the score.

He may be a green ogre and, well, a cartoon, but that didn’t stop him from making his way to the Great White Way. Shrek the Musical hit N.Y.C. in 2008 and lasted for a year – and as you might expect, for the main character, much of that year was spent in makeup.

The movie produced one of the most memorable film scores ever and some might argue that Mr. Balboa’s climb up those steps in Philly was well choreographed. So, are you really that surprised that a film about a brute boxer made it to the stage? (Okay, fine, so were we.)

Music may be an integral part of the flick (after all, the word singer is in the title), but perhaps the film was best left as a rom-com: The musical adaptation closed after five months on Broadway.

While there were two years of consecutive performances, due to the Christmas-centric plot, the show took a hiatus during the holiday off-season. Because, as we all know, the best way to spread Christmas cheer may be to sing it loud for all to hear … but perhaps not year-round.

Stunts and special effects are one thing when they’re in a movie; they are an entirely different beast when you’re dealing with a live performance. But still, the creators behind Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark remained undaunted, even when faced with a seemingly endless stream of pre-opening night flubs. However, the stunts ended up being their downfall: One of the main reasons for the musical’s closure was the loss of injury insurance for cast members.