Romeo and Juliet EVERYWHERE

   Another interesting discovery that I made recently was that, like Lion King, there are many more films that are based on Shakespearean plays. Writers in the past decades have taken Shakespearean plot lines and characters and totally transformed them to modern settings that would be attracting for current audiences. 
   Romeo and Juliet is a play that has been adapted around 30 times to the big screen. What audiences don't know is that this storyline has been recycled through the years fooling audiences with twists. 
"It doesn’t get much more star-crossed than a zombie and a human falling in love."
   

The 2013 Horror/Romcom "Warm Bodies" is an unusual tale of a zombie and a human who fall in love. 
"Warm Bodies is another loose Shakespeare adaptation, but it focuses on the forbidden love between zombie R (Nicholas Hoult) and the woman he can never be with, Julie (Teresa Palmer)."
   It is impressive how our society "eats up" these plot lines and makes it possible for more of them to be produced. I would not be surprised if another Romeo and Juliet movie is made. 
   If a movie called "Gnomeo & Juliet" can be released, I surely can expect anything from the movie world. 

Theatre will always be a source for the writing of films. Although these classic stories tend to succeed in Hollywood, it is imperative that there can also be good original writing that is not recycled; rather have it come from someone's imagination. 

URL:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/movies-you-might-not-know-were-based-on-shakespeare-plays#.vs1E5JrK4G

Article Title:

15 Movies You Might Not Know Were Based On Shakespeare Plays

Website Title:

BuzzFeed

URL:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588173/

Article Title:

Warm Bodies

Website Title:

IMDb

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warm_Bodies_(film)

Article Title:

Warm Bodies (film)

Website Title:

Wikipedia

The Lion King aka Hamlet

 The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. 
The Disney classic, The Lion King is not what many people think it is.The children's movie is based on Shakespeare's "Hamlet".
The Twist: "The bulk of the story and several key scenes remain intact, with Denmark swapped for the African savanna, and people swapped for animals (mostly lions)."
 It's easy to overlook the relationship between "Hamlet" and The Lion King, since Shakespeare certainly didn't invent the idea of an evil uncle. But any theater fan would be able to follow the parallels along: the proud king (Mufasa) is killed accidentally by his evil, power-hungry brother (Scar), and after a time away from the kingdom, the prince and rightful heir (Simba) returns to bring the truth to light. The film even includes the ghostly vision of Mufasa, and Simba's pair of fast-talking friends Timon and Pumbaa (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the original). 
"A musical treatment and happier ending, of course, but "Hamlet" nonetheless."

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King

Article Title:

The Lion King

Website Title:

Wikipedia

URL:

http://bangell08.hubpages.com/hub/Similarities-Between-The-Lion-King-and-Hamlet

Article Title:

Similarities (And Differences) Between The Lion King and Hamlet

Website Title:

HubPages

Rent

 The Tony award "best musical" rent tells the story of  the lives of several Bohemian and their struggles with sexuality, drugs, paying their rent, and life under the shadow of AIDS. 

   

   The musical-adapted film takes place in the East Village of New York City from 1989 to 1990. Surprisingly, the filming locations were mostly on the other side of the country; mostly in California and New Mexico. 

"It is not just that he shows dexterity and imagination in transferring the spectacle onto the actual streets of the East Village in Manhattan. The real key to his success is his utter lack of condescension."-A. O. Scott

"Its idea of Bohemia is not realistic, but romantic, even utopian. Openhearted to a fault, it stakes its integrity on the faith that even in millennial New York, some things - friendship, compassion, grief, pleasure, beauty - are more important than money or real estate."- New York Times

   With the power of Hollywood the set of New York was remade in Los Angeles making impossible to figure out that this was a facade. This was easier to film in a set rather than to close up on the busiest cities in the world. Although for one of the most iconic scenes of the movie (a musical number), the scene was actually shot in the streets of Manhattan.   

   I was not aware that this movie was filmed in sets rather than the actual city. Even with a musical film adaptation the Hollywood magic was implemented creating a perfect portrayal of the Broadway musical on stage. 

URL:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/23/movies/23rent.html

Article Title:

New Tenants in Tinseltown

Website Title:

The New York Times

Publication date:

2005-11-22

URL:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294870/locations

Article Title:

Filming Locations

Website Title:

IMDb

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_(film)#Differences_between_the_stage_and_film_versions

Website Title:

Wikipedia

Grease, Breaking Barriers

 

   The iconic 1978 musical film "Grease" is one of the most famous, well known adaptations known today. The high school love story, full of musical numbers, made an impact and created a giant fan base which basically created a brand itself. The teenaged following developed mostly by the protagonist couple (Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta) led to the marketing of the "Grease" name to a global level.

"But ironically, it's this clunky kitsch quality that makes Grease such a perpetual joy, even after repeated viewings."

"For its' 20th anniversary, there was a celebratory sprucing up - the sound effects are sharper, the print cleaner, the songs louder than ever before."

   The film's success triggered a whole marketing opportunity that even today is still benefitted from .Grease has produced all types of merchandise through the years and has become a household name. What is interesting about this specific movie, is the impact it had on the audiences. Several clothing trends were promoted and established by the movie's cast.

To date, the soundtrack has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling soundtrack albums of all time.

It can definitely be noted that Grease is one of the only musical adaptations to film that has crossed the barrier of being "just another musical movie". With its tremendous success it has been able to create something bigger than just being cheesy. A lot of teenager musical movies today imitate this same format. For example: decades later, High School Musical has followed the same marketing and production steps that Grease did.

This film will always be a classic and definitely more than just a musical itself. The Grease brand was a unique stepping stone that defined a lot of productions today and that is why it is probably still relevant. 

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease:_The_Original_Soundtrack_from_the_Motion_Picture

Article Title:

Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture

Website Title:

Wikipedia

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_(film)

Article Title:

Grease (film)

Website Title:

Wikipedia

URL:

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?DVDID=8470

Article Title:

Empireonline Reviews | Reviews | Empire

Website Title:

empireonline.com

URL:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077631/

Article Title:

Grease

Website Title:

IMDb

Romeo And Juliet "From Verona to Verona Beach"

   Besides all the popular, big adaptations that I've published about in this blog, there are also a lot of classic plays that have been transferred into the big screen. Most of these productions were written by the one and only, William Shakespeare. The interesting thing about these adaptations is that they have been made multiple times; using the same context of the plays in different eras, modernizing the stories. 

   Probably one of the most famous of all is Romeo & Juliet. The star-crossed lover story has been remade through out the history of film by different actors and even has been twisted to modern themes.

   The most popular adaptation is the 1996 film with celebrity actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Having DiCaprio play Romeo was a great casting choice, allowing his fan base composed of young people watch this old Shakespearian twist. 

  "You won’t find another Shakespeare adaptation that matches Baz Luhrmann’s for bravado and invention"

"Unlike most other cinema adaptations of this play, it really gets the sense that these are teenagers, not old dusty relics. And the soundtrack is killer too."

   Romeo and Juliet is one of the most screened play of all time. Mostly, all of the play's adaptations have grossed well specially the DiCaprio's being the highest grossing Shakespearian film ever. 

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage-to-film_adaptation

Article Title:

Stage-to-film adaptation

Website Title:

Wikipedia

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet_on_screen

Article Title:

Romeo and Juliet on screen

Website Title:

Wikipedia

URL:

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/ten-great-shakespeare-movie-adaptations

Article Title:

The 10 Greatest Shakespeare Movie Adaptations

Website Title:

ShortList Magazine

The Phantom of the Opera

   In 1989, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the musical Phantom Of The Opera. The purchase allowed Andrew Lloyd (composer) to have total artistic control. The film was shot entirely using eight sound stages. 

"Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stunning masterwork is more than the longest-running musical in Broadway history—it’s an international phenomenon that unmasks emotions, leaving audiences everywhere breathless."

"Now is the time to surrender to Broadway’s most haunting love story."

Along with the genius musical compositions of the musical, the cast of Phantom was composed of big names like Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, and Patrick Wilson which not only brought a musical theater audience to the theatres but also their fan bases. 

The film received generally mixed reviews from film critics. Even though 86% of the general audience liked the film, based on 384,463 audience reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, only 33% of the critics enjoyed The Phantom of the Opera, with an average score of 5/10.
In contrasting between the popularity of the Broadway musical, Michael Dequina of Film Threat magazine explained that "it conjures up this unexplainable spell that leaves audiences sad, sentimental, swooning, smiling—in some way transported and moved. Now, in Schumacher's film, that spell lives on."

URL:

http://typeamktg.com/the-phantom-of-the-opera/

Article Title:

The Phantom of the Opera

Website Title:

Type A Marketing

URL:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293508/

Article Title:

The Phantom of the Opera

Website Title:

IMDb

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera_(2004_film)#Plot

Website Title:

Wikipedia

Marketing Broadway

 "A general rule of thumb on Broadway is that only 30% of shows actually make back their original investment."-Randall Ringer (Narrative Branding)

Here are 3 marketing challenges that musicals have to overcome:

"1. Build an audience for an unknown show.  Also known as Audience Development.

2. Reduce the risk that the average audience member feels when buying a ticket.  For most people Broadway is a big treat, more expensive than a movie.

3. Reduce the risk of the producers who need to maximize their limited marketing budgets."

   

   Now Imagine the different challenges that the musical-film adaptations of these shows have to face. Many of the musical films that have been created in the past decade from famous Broadway musicals are not well known by the general population. Like several films that I have already discussed in this blog, the marketing techniques that the producers chose to use were to assume that the general public already knew that these were musical adaptations. The usual outcome and reaction by the demographic that watched the film for the first time in cinemas was that they had no idea that the whole movie would be singing. Movies like "Into the Woods" and "Sweeney Todd" are perfect examples of this marketing. This became a huge turn off and although the movies were profitable and successful because of their artistic value and celebrity castings, they also have become movies that people would never consider watching again. Many would prefer that these movies were advertised as musicals from the beginning, but would the movies have the same success if they were? 

   Very few musical movies have had the same success and have even been nominated for Academy Awards. For this specific genre the fact of the matter is that there is no right or wrong way to advertise in a right, fair way. Not all movies are like "Les Miserables" that everyone knows but the good thing is that these type of movies are usually casted well and are easily popular with their music and big budgets.

 URL:

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?genres=musical&sort=moviemeter,asc&title_type=feature

Website Title:

IMDb

   URL:

https://narrativebranding.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/marketing-the-broadway-musical-or-the-people-in-the-picture-on-broadway/

Article Title:

Marketing The Broadway Musical - or - The People In The Picture on Broadway

Website Title:

Narrative Branding

Publication date:

2011-04-26