Tim Rice to Adapt 'From Here to Eternity' as a Musical

Tim Rice's adaptation of the 1951 novel 'From Here to Eternity' has cleared a major hurdle: he has acquired full rights to produce the story on stage. This development is reportedly years in the making. "It's only really now that we are all gung-ho," Rice tells The Daily Mail.

'From Here to Eternity' was also adapted as a 1953 film starring Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, but Rice's adaptation is based on the novel, not the film.

Back in April, Rice - best known for his hugely successful collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Disney films - told BroadwayWorld's Pat Cerasaro that he "was initially just a producer on it. The score was written by a young man named Stuart Brazen, who is a very talented writer and whose work I had been following for quite some time. He came up with this wonderful score based on the film and book FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and I said, 'This is something well-worth me getting interested in.' I wasn't going to be involved with the writing, but as things have progressed - I've got a director; I've got a book writer; and, I found myself becoming the producer - it took me quite a while to get the rights. We still need some new songs, and Stuart wants me to do the lyrics, so I've already done one new song with him and we've got a few more in the works. I hope to get FROM HERE TO ETERNITY off the ground within the next year."

What they don't have a star yet, although Rice jokingly presents an idea to The Daily Mail: "George Clooney Sings, doesn't he?"