Danny Boyle-Helmed MISS SAIGON Film Adaptation Set for 2018 Start?

We have a tentative timetable for MISS SAIGON on the big screen! According to the Daily Mail, Danny Boyle's MISS SAIGON film adaptation will begin shooting in 2018, provided the screenplay and other pre-production efforts go smoothly. Boyle is the director behind SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, 127 HOURS, London's 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, STEVE JOBS and more.

Rumored since 2012 and mentioned again when the Boublil and Schönberg musical returned to the West End in 2014, the project -- from Cameron Mackintosh and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner at Working Title -- finally seems to be underway, though no official announcement has been made.

The London revival closed in February but will return to Broadway, followed by a U.S. national tour, in Spring 2017. UK stars Eva Noblezada and Jon Jon Briones are set to reprise their roles in New York. Changes to the production for the West End production included a new song and slight book revisions, and lyricist Michael Mahler has boarded the Broadway version to rework portions of the libretto. No word on whether these changes will appear on the big screen as well.

While no details have been released as to who would take on the musical's iconic roles in a big screen adaptation, Lea Salonga and Simon Bowman, who originated the roles of 'Kim' and 'Chris' in the West End, have said they would love to be involved in the project. "A cameo would be great!" said Salonga, adding, "Hide us in the back somewhere, just so we can say we were a part of it." Bowman quipped: "Or holding on to the tail of the helicopter."

Mackintosh's new production of Miss Saigon swept the board at the 2015 Whatsonstage.com Awards, winning a record-breaking nine awards, the most awards ever won by a single show in the 15 year history of the awards including: Best West End Show; Best Revival of a Musical; Best Leading Actress in a Musical and Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

Set in 1975 during the final days of the American occupation of Saigon, Miss Saigon is an epic love story about the relationship between an American GI and a young Vietnamese woman. Orphaned by war, 17-year-old Kim is forced to work as a bar girl in a sleazy Saigon night club owned by a notorious wheeler-dealer known as 'The Engineer'. John, an American GI, buys his friend Chris the services of Kim for the night. That night will change their lives forever. The most successful musical in the history of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Miss Saigon has also been performed in 28 countries, over 300 cities in 15 different languages, has won over 40 awards and been seen by over 35 million people worldwide.