File this under remakes to not be pissed about: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is working with Warner Bros. on a possible remake of Little Shop of Horrors, which will likely feature a script written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (aka the man who saved Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), to produce and star in a new version of the cult classic. Which cult classic — the original Roger Corman version or the Frank Oz musical that starred Rick Moranis? Does it matter? Joseph Gordon-Levitt wants to do Little Shop of Horrors with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. I’m really not sure there’s anything wrong with this.
That’s pretty much as far as the news goes, but as someone who considers Little Shop to be one of the best movies of all time (and got to be in the musical in high school), this news is a pretty big deal. Especially considering the people attached to it. Gordon-Levitt is a pretty awesome actor — a frequent collaborator with Christopher Nolan, he’s been straddling this line between huge, blockbuster supporting actor in a slew of excellent movies and quirky, indie icon who can sing, dance, play instruments, and appear in smaller films like 500 Days of Summer. All without wearing out his welcome, which is pretty nice for a change. So, when he talks about wanting to remake a movie like Little Shop (the Ghostbusters of movie musicals, if you ask me), I listen.
And then there’s Aguirre-Sacasa, who made headlines for rescuing Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark from itself after previously working as an actual comic book writer for Marvel. In addition to his accomplished career as a playwright and television writer (he wrote for Big Love and Glee), he is making waves as a screenwriter, currently undertaking the script for Kimberly Peirce‘s Carrie remake. That is a lot of remakes, but it makes me really excited for whatever might be in store for his first original work. And now that he has experience with musicals, it’s hard to think that he wouldn’t do Little Shop a great deal of justice.
Seriously, this could be really exciting. My nostalgic little heart is doing flip-flops over the idea of Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Seymour Krelborn, because then I get to imagine Kristen Bell as Audrey and Cee-Lo Green as Audrey 2 (even if Audrey 2 is supposedly a lady). Then Bill Hader can be the dickish dentist, Oren Scrivello DDS, and the world will find peace at last.
(via /Film)
Published: May 4, 2012 11:09 am