Less than an hour ago, I complained about there being a lot of remakes in the news today. I should have remembered that when a journalist complains, the Hollywood Gods listen. The official announcement has just been made that Warner Bros. has hitched their wagon to a new remake of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.
Greg Berlanti, the executive producer of DC shows like The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl, will be directing from a script by Matthew Robinson (THE INVENTION OF LYING), but details are murky beyond that.
According to sources, the film will be a musical, but there's no specific word on if that music will be the Alan Menken-Howard Ashman compositions used for Frank Oz's 1984 musical, or if this will somehow be a new musical adaptation of Roger Corman's 1960 original film. Dear Lord, I hope not.
I have a lot of worries about the film, but I can tell you one thing. They'd better have a killer cameo sitting in that dentist's chair. The masochistic dental patient was played by a young Jack Nicholson in the original and Bill Murray in the movie musical, so if they don't knock that one out of the park there will be no reason to see it.
Wait, you know what would make me interested in this movie adaptation? If they cast Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead, reprising the role of Seymour he briefly filled for a three-show run last July. Promise me that, Warner Bros., and you can consider my ticket bought.
Here's the plot of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, in any incarnation:
Meek flower shop assistant Seymour pines for co-worker Audrey. During a total eclipse, he discovers an unusual plant he names Audrey II, which feeds only on human flesh and blood. The growing plant attracts a great deal of business for the previously struggling store. After Seymour feeds Audrey's boyfriend, Orin, to the plant after Orin's accidental death, he must come up with more bodies for the increasingly bloodthirsty plant.
Marc Platt (LA LA LAND) is producing, with Sarah Schechter executive producing.