Per Deadline, Legally Blonde: The Musical music/lyricists Nell Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe have an untitled comedy musical in the works at Universal. The duo will write both the songs and screenplay.
The plot of the film is being kept under wraps. Scott Sanders and Mara Jacobs at Scott Sanders Productions are producing. Sanders said of the project: “Nell and Larry’s script perfectly captures the blend of irreverence and emotion that they have brought to their stage shows in an irresistible story that I can’t wait for movie audiences to experience”.
That doesn’t give us much to go on, so let’s turn to the duo’s musical output for more clues. Legally Blonde: The Musical received seven Tony nominations in 2007. Benjamin also wrote the lyrics to Mean Girls: The Musical, while O’Keefe has worked on popular musicals such as Heathers and Bat Boy.
Considering their past work, expect this comedy to likely be high school-based, possibly with a dark edge. This is all just speculation at the moment though. Scott Sanders Productions also have other musicals in the works, including adaptations of In The Heights and The Color Purple. They are a subdivision of Universal, who have excelled at musicals over the last decade.
Les Miserables won multiple Oscars, while Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Yesterday have proven to be recent hits. They have the Paul Feig-directed Last Christmas set for a November release this year, and are also behind Tom Hooper‘s Cats adaptation.
Considering Universal’s track record, expect this untitled musical to be received well and perform really strongly at the box office. We’ll wait for more details.
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