It looks like it might be a decent adaptation – they’re using 6 of the original 8 main cast members, which is a good sign. According to what I’ve read, they’ve added some new dialog and cut a few songs (no clue which ones), which is too bad but probably inevitable. As part of updating it from the mid-1990s to the present day, they’ve added gay marriage to the show’s litany of issues, which makes sense.
Maybe if Rent is a hit, the Sweeny Todd movie will finally happen. Or better yet, an Assassins movie. (I can dream, can’t I?)
Just watched the trailer … oh, I can’t wait, it looks really good.
Yeah – I’m looking forward to being disappointed by this one too.
I’m totally with you on Assassins – how cool would that be? Glad to know there’s one other person on the planet who knows the show. :)
“Maybe if Rent is a hit, the Sweeny Todd movie will finally happen”
Oh please please please please?!
We can but hope.
Yeah, I found out about this when Jesse Martin’s character on Law and Order got wounded in a shooting so I went to find out what else that actor was up to that he might need 6 months off for. :p
I tried for years to see the original show and for a million reasons never did… I am THRILLED about the movie! Cannot wait. And who knew that guy from Law & Order could sing?
My wife and I saw “Must Love Dogs” the other day and the trailer for Rent was among the 50,000 commercial messages Cinemark decided to bombard us with.
Color us not Broadway – we had no idea what the HELL this trailer was about until the very end. Looks interesting, though; we’ll probably wager the $11 for two tickets when it comes out. (Or at least get the DVD from Netflix.)
Well, I saw him on Broadway years ago in “Rent,” so I knew he could sing. :-P His ability to put emotion into his voice without sacrificing his vocal quality is pretty amazing.
What I didn’t know is that that girl from WonderFalls could sing!
So, Rob, how was “must love dogs?” I saw the preview and it looked like it might be funny. Plus, Diane Lane is actually not twenty years younger than John Cusack, which makes for a nice switch from Hollywood’s usual romances.
It was cute. The resolution is a little tacked-on and there just isn’t much chemistry between Cusack and Lane. There are amusingly drawn characters. B, B+ if you’re in the mood.
Um, there is a Sweeney Todd movie, isn’t there? Well, at least, there’s the Great Performances (I think) version. It’s not spectacular, but it does exist. You can get it on DVD, even.
You’re right, ADS; I have it on DVD, and in my opinion it is spectacular. But I’d still like to see a new movie version of it. Besides, unless they totally blow it, it’s always fun to see a new cast and new director take on a piece.
But yeah, that’s why I’d be even more eager for an Assassins movie, since I’ve never seen Assassins, just heard the cast album and read the script.
Hey! Dan S. stole my comment!
Really, Amp? Wow. I had read that Assassins was pretty much a staple of theater companies all over the country (next performance in your state is late in September, a couple hours away from you). I can’t imagine how it could work as a movie: the tension of real live people reciting monologues to, singing songs for, and pointing guns at a real audience is pretty central to how it works. Plus I’m one of those who feels like the addition of the new song (do you have both cast albums?) hurts the show, which used to offer audiences a very narrow and unsettling choice of positions to empathize with.
Sweeney as a movie could be delightful (although Sondheim has not had good fortune in film adaptations), and RENT sounds exciting. I’m grateful for the news!
Psst.
“Directed by Chris Columbus.”
I’m not sayin’ it’s a deal breaker. I’m just sayin’.
(Also: not only can Tracie Thoms sing, she can blow the fucking roof off. This is also fun to read, about her history with the show. —Who knew Spike Lee wanted to do a film of Rent?)
I thought there was a Sweeney Todd movie, too. It might have been a filmed version of the stage show, and I saw it on TV. I remember that Angela Lansbury played Mrs. Lovett. She was in the original stage version.
I have to second Mr. Ripley’s comment that, wonderful as it is, Assasins would be quite difficult to do on film; it really is a live theater show. But I’d love to see the attempt — a good enough director might be able to pull it off.
(And as someone who saw a college production of the show some time ago, and has heard only the first cast album, I have to add that it sounds like a real shame about the new song. Even news reports made it sound like it really weakened the piece…)
Not only can Jesse l. Martin sing, wait until you hear him sing “I’ll Cover You.” Unless 10 years have played havoc with his voice, it’ll tear you up.
There is a guy in real life whom the character in RENT named “Mark”
is based on (except he is not gay)–his
name is Paul Garrin, who among other things is known for breaking the story on the infamous Tompkins Square Park Police
Riot that took place in 1988 in the East Village, one of the events that inspired
Jonathan Larson to author his play “RENT”.
Paul became known as the
“Man with a Video Camera”, and could be
seen carrying his video camera with him everywhere,
often finding himself videotaping the police and the many riots
that went down in the East Village during the 80’s and early 90’s.
more about Paul Garrin:
http://pg.mediafilter.org see his famous clip
“Man with a Video Camera”
rtsp://stream.freethe.net/manwcam.mov
or buy his videotape “By Any Means Necessary”
which chronicles the housing struggles in the East Village
between 1988-1991 that inspired the story behind RENT. http://shadowshop.com
go there and click on “video” (or “tapes).
You can view a sample clip there, and order the video online.
I find it interesting that someone posted the above comment to every blog about RENT.
It seems to me that Paul himself posted the commercial advertisment for his goods. He also seems to be busy trying to create a myth that he is the basis of a character in RENT.
There are many video activist in the lower east side that all together as a composite are the basis of the character in question.
Don’t believe the hype. Don’t reward Paul’s spam campaign by buying any of his stuff