Every other month or so, we hear something about a new production that Ryan Murphy is involved in. Whether that’s accurate or not, he’s probably one of the busiest people in Hollywood. Case in point about how prolific he is: Two weeks after Pose’s Season 2 premiere, information about Ryan’s newest production, an adaptation of the Tony-nominated stage musical The Prom, has been released exclusively by Deadline:
Not yet a year into his expensive five-year deal with Netflix, Ryan Murphy is about to deliver his biggest get for the streamer. Deadline hears he will direct and produce the feature adaptation of the Tony-nominated stage musical The Prom and has secured a cast that puts Netflix in new starpower territory.
Meryl Streep will star alongside James Corden, Nicole Kidman and Ariana Grande, with Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key and Andrew Rannells playing key roles. Sources said Murphy will get underway directing the film adaptation of the Broadway hit in December, for a fall 2020 awards season release in theaters before it airs on the streamer.
If you’re not familiar with the musical (I wasn’t), Deadline gives an overview of the story while detailing the actors’ roles:
In Prom, Streep will play Dee Dee Allen, a two-time Tony winner who teams with Corden’s Barry Glickman in a flop musical about Eleanor Roosevelt. After career-ending reviews, they decide — along with Broadway babies Kidman as Angie Dickinson and Rannells (Book of Mormon) as Trent Oliver — to champion a cause to rehabilitate their careers. They find one in Emma, a high school senior in Indiana who isn’t allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom. A nationwide search led by casting director Alexa Fogel is on to fill the role of Emma.
Grande will star as Alyssa, a popular daughter of the head of the PTA. Awkwafina will play the group’s publicist Ms. Sheldon, and Key will play Streep’s love interest and Emma’s ally, Principal Hawkins.
We first heard about Ryan’s 5-year, $300 million deal with Netflix in 2018, and it seems like the network is definitely going to get its money’s worth out of the partnership. Deadline also names the other projects that Murphy is working on for Netflix, so far (in case you want to keep track): three series (The Politicians, Ratched, and Hollywood), two documentaries, and an adaptation of the Tony-winning The Boys in the Band, starring the recent Broadway 50th anniversary revival cast and directed by Joe Mantello.
The Prom looks like it has a fantastic cast–I just wish that Meryl would stop saying problematic sh-t. Deadline reported that all of the stars were Ryan’s first choices and that they signed on fast. I know a lot of people find James Corden annoying, but I’ve loved him ever since I saw him perfectly cast as the hapless Craig in the first of two Doctor Who episodes. He and Matt Smith played off each other really well, especially in their second episode together. I’m excited to see this–maybe it will actually be the first Ryan Murphy project that I watch from start to finish.
photos credit: WENN
oh I loved James Cordon as Craig in Doctor Who. He was fun with Matt Smith and with Stormageddon – such a cute episode
Me too!! That was the first time I have ever heard of Cordon.
Kidman and Streep have both done musicals previously but neither is the strongest singer to play a Broadway singer. But it’s a very strong cast and will definitely get a lot of attention in award cycle.
Why is it only problematic and not cancelled for those things Meryl said and believes in?
Because we’re grown ups. Because humans have foibles, are allowed to grow and learn and nothing is black and white. Because if you ‘cancelled’ everyone that had ever said anything problematic you would lose out on some of the most magnificent things humans have ever created or invented. Because art like film is not made in a vacuum but by a collective – should we ‘cancel’ everyone who has ever worked with Streep? Because cancel culture goes against everything that any liberal, empathetic person should believe in. It makes ‘us’ as bad as ‘them’.
Because Cancel Culture has become a little toxic, unrealistic, and unequal now. Free will is still a thing- if you truly want to cancel certain liberals, do it, but don’t expect other people to always make the same choice.
thats EXACTLY what ive been preaching on this site in the comments …like the cancelling is ridiculous now…. and i’m happy to say i’ve never played a hand in it.
oh I’m excited for this. I love when musicals get made into movies.
I’m also super pumped for In the Heights.
I’m kinda suprising myself how much I like Kidman haha, but I like how she makes interesting and sometimes out there fashion choices and she always brings it with her acting.
So the show sounds like it could be really good? …only problem is I have No Interest in seeing Streep perform again. Not after her comments, and I think she’s overcast. I’d like to see other actresses in her age range getting some of her parts.
I understand how Hollywood works, and think this cast is really great, but as a lover of musical theater, I wish they’d chose actual Broadway or musical theater stars for these films. They’re just so talented but they get passed over for Hollywood actors that can sing but they’re just not as good as true musical theater actors.
My friend is Barry Glickman in the Broadway show (which I saw and LOVED), and it truly bums me out the Netflix version is not using his amazing talent (and his equally amazing costar Beth Leavel) for the film. Hollywood sucks with their same-ol’-same-ol’.