Will Ferrell & Kristen Wiig will team up for a musical about musicals

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Despite how terrific they have the potential to be, traditional movie musicals have become somewhat of a dying breed. Even if you include animated flicks (FROZEN, MOANA) we maybe get one or two of them year, down from basically every movie 60 or so years ago. However, with the success of LA LA LAND I can expect a slight surge in the genre, and the signs of it are already showing in the most awesome of ways.

Deadline got the scoop that a musical version of the book, Everything Is Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age Of Industrial Musicals, has been picked up by Amblin Partners (for Universal Pictures), and will star SNL alums Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig. So, if you haven’t already guessed, the movie will take the very meta route by being a musical about musicals, specifically ones done between the 1950s and 1980s for companies as part of “industrial shows” to motivate sales staff and inform workers about their products.

If that all sounds hilarious, it’s because it totally was. The shows were sometimes quite as ridiculous as they sound, done for humorous intent by requiring actors to act out as inanimate objects or "get overly excited about diesel engines, bathtubs or selling tires while they dreamed of being ‘somebody.’” These were apparently sweet gigs for theater actors who would fight for these roles (and the big paychecks), and then go back to working on low-budget theater gigs. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman who worked on NBC’s SMASH and John Waters’ Broadway version of HAIRSPRAY will write the score, and LA LA LAND producer Marc Platt will…produce.

From the sound of it the musical will probably act as a satirical take on a very ludicrous aspect of the musical world few know about by oing it in the form of a musical comedy. This is why the talents of Ferrell and Wiig have been brought in, as they have such a knack for embracing over-the-top premises to hilarious effect. Plus, Ferrell will continue to prove he is indeed the songbird of his generation. Truly a combination of Fergie and Jesus.