Welp, it’s official. After a heated bidding war, the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons will come to the big screen. Graham King’s GK Films won the rights to the Broadway musical Jersey Boys. Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice will write the script.
According to Deadline, the deal wasn’t cheap. It was called “ground-breaking” and was a “substantial seven-figures.”
The musical tells the story of how Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Massi went from blue collar workers to one of the most successful pop groups in America, selling 175 million records before the age of 30. Since the show opened on Broadway in 2005, it won four Tony Awards — including Best Musical — and brought in over $1 billion worldwide.
It sounds like everyone in Hollywood was pursuing the rights to this film, and that’s not surprising considering how well the most recent Broadway-to-film project — Mamma Mia! — did, making over $600 million worldwide. And Mr. King is pretty excited, to say the least.
“Jersey Boys is one of the most electrifying stage shows any of us has ever seen and it has all the ingredients to become a big commercial hit movie,” King said. “So to now be collaborating with the whole team, Frankie, Bob, Marshall and Rick, to bring that magic to the big screen is just a wonderful dream come true.”
And honestly, Jersey Boys is practically a lock as a money-maker. The musical is a mix-tape of every great singalong — whether you’re a kid or an adult — from the past 50 years. Who doesn’t love classic songs like “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What A Night,” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.”
Or even better — sing it with me! “Sherrryyyy, Sherryyy baaaaby! Can you come out tonight?”
Erg. Sorry. Maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Let’s just wait for the movie.
Source: Deadline
