Little Shop of Horrors Slated For Big Screen Remake
Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 8:12AM by Daniel Crooke
Judging by Hollywood’s gluttony with the bottomless box office buffet of remakes, sequels, and reboots, it’s a fair assumption that the average development slate subsists on a diet built purely on previously existing properties. Spider-Mans make for a great snack, Mummys are the perfect midnight meal, and Beauty and the Beast is the latest on Disney’s plate of microwaved leftovers. This week, as Frank Oz’s classic 1986 horror-comedy musical Little Shop of Horrors hits Warner Bros’ menu, the budding beast bellows once more: feed me!
You can’t blame protectionist fans for beginning to quiver at the teeth-pulling thought of another beloved story sliced, diced, or photocopied for contemporary audiences. But for those immediately suspicious of the recycled content mill that seems to fuel the modern studio system – at the detriment of green-lighting original material in the mid-budget range – it would be wise to keep the following in mind. For nearly as long as Little Shop has been in our pop cultural consciousness, it has itself been a heavily recycled property.
Initially conceived by Roger Corman as a 1960 B-picture starring a carnivorous flytrap with an exponential appetite and conniving cult of personality, The Little Shop of Horrors served as the source material for Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s hit 1982 Off-Broadway musical that dropped the the – it’s cleaner – which was then transformed into Oz’s Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene-starring cult film four years later. And at various points in between, it boasted a children’s animated series and Broadway revival without losing an inch of its inky sensitivity. Phew. Talk about 'growing for me'.
With DC Comics superhero producer Greg Berlanti set to direct its latest iteration, the first question on any fan’s mind is whom he should cast in the musical’s iconic roles. I’m crossing my fingers that Janelle Monáe as Audrey and James Marsden as Seymour belt the lead notes in the latest incarnation of the bittersweet Motown musical. Who makes your cast list for Warner Bros’ remake of Little Shop of Horrors?
Reader Comments (17)
good luck finding someone as perfect as ellen greene
if they cgi audrey 2 i'm going to be even more furious than i am right now
not that i'll ever see it...
Jake Gyllenhaal could reprise Seymour. But James Marsden is a seriously good suggestion too.
AND ELLEN. GREENE. FOR. AUDREY. AND. PRESIDENT.
Cause its Greg Berlanti I have a feeling he might keep part of this in the family...
My vote is for
Grant Gustin- Seymour
Keke Palmer- Audrey
No. Just...no. I'm already dreading the inevitably computer-generated Audrey II.
The CGI is what worries me most, too. I also never really had a grasp on the age range for these roles - I feel like a 35+ Seymour gets into man-child territory, but maybe we're supposed to think he really has had a long life of mediocrity that fuels his frustration? I'm looking forward to this, but would feel even better if it were another live TV musical instead - it would just feel lower stakes.
Seymour Krelborn – Billy Magnussen
Audrey – Laura Benanti
I really think Seymour and Audrey are the sort of roles for newcomers, but I wouldn't mind Gyllenhaal or Adam Driver in the former.
Isaach de Bankole or Tony Shalhoub as Mr. Mushnick
I'd love to see Mike Patton as Dr. Scrivello or Andrew WK, as flippant as those choices seem (especially since Patton would probably insist on more extreme sadism from the character).
I forget where, but somewhere online was floating Ben Platt for Seymour. Feels like a long shot but not a bad idea.
If Charlie Cox could sing he'd be perfect.
Jake Gyllenhaal, Charlie Cox, Adam Driver, James Marsden would be good as Seymour.
Janelle Monae is DAMN good pick. Michelle Williams and Emma Stone could be good or possibly uninspired choices. Ellen Greene is the champ forever though.
I'll take Anna Kendrick or Anne Hathaway. ::ducking::
Who they'll cast for the Greek chorus is more important?
Jane Krakowski. But I'm guessing they'll want big film names?
I don't see the point of this- but if we can get Jake G into a big screen musical why not?
What I want to know is why that gyllenhaal Greene live performance hasn't been broadcast
"A matchbox of our own. A fence of real chain link..."
Ellen Greene FOREVA!
No talk of Hairspray Live! today? I saw it on a plane last night, but so many freaking commercials I wondered whether it was just the plane version or was NBC desperate for cash?
The movie adaptation of the film is one of the best stage-to-screen adaptations around, thanks to a team that really understood what makes the material work. And the Audrey II puppets remain a marvel! They look so much better than most CGI.
I just don't think it needs to be remade... and certainly not by Berlanti (who, amongst other things, wrote the Green Lantern screenplay...).
Marc Platt is producer on this, so expect his son, Ben Platt, to ride the wave of his star-making and almost certainly Tony-winning turn in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen to consideration for Seymour.
I have no trouble with remakes, as long as they are being made by artists who genuinely want to work with the material and bring their individual skills to play. But most remakes tend to be cash grabs, and the vast majority of them end up as forgettable, or worse.
BTW, love the idea of Jane Krakowski in the Ellen Green role, but I think she might be deemed too old. She has the proper sense of humor and talent to pull it off!