BACK TO THE FUTURE, MRS. DOUBTFIRE, THE STING, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, WAITRESS, TOOTSIE & More Coming to Broadway?

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, 20th Century Fox recently formed a joint venture with top Broadway producer and Tony Award winner Kevin McCollum (Motown, Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights), prolific film producer John Davis (Predator, The Firm, Grumpy Old Men, I Robot, Chronicle) and leading industry executive Tom McGrath, to develop live stage productions based upon the studio's vast library of films. Now according to the New York Times, Fox won't be the only major film studio with movie-based musicals in the woks in the coming years.

While McCullum and Fox are looking into bringing "Mrs. Doubtfire," "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Waitress" to Broadway, Warner Brothers is of course bringing "Magic Mike" to the stage, while working on "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in the West End, featuring Tony winner Douglas Hodge.

In addition, Sony is working on a "Tootsie" adaptation, and Universal is turning "Animal House" into a stage musical, with music by David Yazbek, a book by Michael Mitnick, and direction by Casey Nicholaw. Future Sony projects might include "Back to the Future" and"The Sting."

Sony's Lia Vollack told NYT: "We're looking through our 4,000 movies for the stories with the strongest emotional resonance, for stories that feel like they want to be sung onstage. And I wouldn't rule out any genre - though a horror musical could be challenging, and superheroes really do rely on certain types of visuals that are pretty cinematic."

On how to make a successful musical out of a movie, producer Dan Jinks said of his latest project with Sony, Big Fish: "A movie can have so many more scenes than a musical, and so much can be achieved with close-ups and other cinematic devices, so we had to think carefully about which scenes to keep and make theatrical and what other moments could be turned to song. In the movie, there's a scene where time stops and the main character walks through a circus tent - a mesmerizing scene. For the musical, Andrew [Lippa] has a written a song called 'Time Stops,' and it hits you emotionally in a way only musical theater can."

Click here to read the full article.

Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson,Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of Marty McFly, a teenager who is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955. He meets his future parents in high school and accidentally attracts his future mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by causing his parents-to-be to fall in love, and with the help of scientist Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, he must find a way to return to 1985.

Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy film starring Robin Williams (who also served as co-producer) and Sally Field and based on the novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Daniel Hillard is a voice actor living in California, who recently quit a project, because he wouldn't endorse a character who smokes. He is a good father to his three children Lydia, Chris, and Natalie. However, Daniel is not a very responsible husband, and when he throws a rousing birthday party for Chris, his wife Miranda takes it as a sign Daniel is too immature and seeks a divorce. At their first custody hearing, the judge grants Miranda custody of the children, since Daniel has neither a suitable residence nor a steady job. Daniel soon learns that Miranda intends to hire a housekeeper to care for the children. Since she is not willing to let him watch the kids, Daniel surreptitiously alters her classifieds form and calls her several times, using his voice acting to trick her into thinking that many lousy job applicants are calling. He then calls her as an elderly British nanny, who he dubs "Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire."

The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936 that involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss (Robert Shaw). The film was directed byGeorge Roy Hill, who previously directEd Newman and Redford in the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The title phrase refers to the moment when a con artist finishes the "play" and takes the mark's money. If a con is successful, the mark does not realize he has been "taken" (cheated), at least not until the con men are long gone. The film is divided into distinct sections with old-fashioned title cards with lettering and illustrations rendered in a style reminiscent of the Saturday Evening Post.

The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 comedy-drama film, a loose screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea Sachs, a college graduate who goes to New York City and gets a job as a co-assistant to powerful fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci co-star, as co-assistant Emily Charlton, and Art Director Nigel, respectively.

Waitress is a 2007 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, who also appears in a supporting role, making this her final appearance before her murder. Keri Russell plays Jenna, a waitress living in the American South, who is trapped in an unhappy marriage with the abusive Earl (Jeremy Sisto). She works in Joe's Pie Diner, where her job includes creating inventive pies with unusual titles inspired by her life, such as the "Bad Baby Pie" she invents after her unwanted pregnancy is confirmed. Jenna longs to run away from her dismal marriage, and is slowly accumulating money to do so. She pins her hopes for escape on a pie contest in a nearby town, which offers a $25,000 grand prize, but her husband won't let her go.

Tootsie is a 1982 American comedy-drama film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to adopt a new identity as a woman to land a job. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman, with a supporting cast that includes Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Geena Davis, Bill Murray, Doris Belack and producer/director Sydney Pollack. Tootsie was adapted by Larry Gelbart, Barry Levinson (uncredited), Elaine May (uncredited) and Murray Schisgal from the story by Gelbart.

National Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis. The film was a direct spinoff from National Lampoon magazine. It is about a misfit group of fraternity members who challenge thedean of Faber College. Of the younger lead actors, only John Belushi was an established star, but even he had not yet appeared in a film, having gained fame mainly from his Saturday Night Livetelevision appearances. Several of the actors who were cast as college students, including Karen Allen, Tom Hulce, and Kevin Bacon, were just beginning their film careers, although Tim Matheson was coming off a large role as one of the assassin motorcycle cops in the second Dirty Harry film, Magnum Force.