NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2004 - Showtime Entertainment President Robert Greenblatt, on the heels of picking up his first dramatic series, HUFF, has just greenlighted his first SHOWTIME Original Picture: REEFER MADNESS, which will be produced with Apollo Screen. This raucous film musical is adapted from the hit stage musical, which is based loosely on the cult exploitation film of the 1930s. The highly-stylized film is slated for pre-production in early February and will go into production in April 2004.
No airdate has yet been set.
Garnering strong critical acclaim for its off-Broadway run in 2001, the musical took Los Angeles theatergoers by storm in the 1999-2000 season and broke records at the Hudson Theatre. It also swept the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Backstage West Garland and Los Angeles Theatre League Alliance Ovation awards, winning Best Musical or Best Production honors from all three organizations.
Reuniting the stage version's creative team, the film will be directed by veteran director Andy Fickman and written by Kevin Murphy (book and lyrics) and Dan Studney (book and music), all of whom will also executive produce. Fickman, Studney, and Murphy all received the Ovation and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards for the stage version.
"We are very excited about this musical which I would describe as a cross between 'Grease' and 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'," stated Greenblatt. "It's ideal for premium cable because you will see nothing like this anywhere else on television.
And the cleverness of the musical satire makes it both highly entertaining and sophisticated at the same time. If 'Rocky Horror' were being made today, it would probably only happen at Miramax or on premium cable."
REEFER MADNESS is a tongue-in-cheek comedy adaptation of the classic anti-marijuana propaganda film of the same name that was released in 1936 as a cautionary tale. The musical begins with the gathering of a group of concerned parents at the local high school to view an informational film dramatizing some of the consequences of their kids getting hooked on drugs. The drab black and white of Smalltown USA quickly segues into the bright Technicolor of the film-within-a-film that focuses on sweet 17-year-old Jimmy who falls in with an evil marijuana dealer. With just one drag of the demon weed, the clean-cut Jimmy quickly goes into a twisted, hilarious downward spiral of reefer, sex and mayhem.
Filled with a highly original score of songs and musical sequences, the stage version quickly developed a cult audience that knew every lyric and line of dialogue in the show. When the original Los Angeles production closed, it had run 150 performances and was the longest-running show of its size in L.A., as well as one of the longest-running shows in L.A. history. It then won an unprecedented 20 of its record 22 award nominations from the various Los Angeles critics groups, often beating out big-budget commercial productions such as Fosse and Cabaret in head-to-head competition. The show also appropriately won "High Times" Magazine's Production of the Year award.
Andy Fickman is a familiar Los Angeles stage director, most recently represented by the long-running Jewtopia. His film directing credits include the indie comedy Who's Your Daddy for Vernah Harrah's Middle Fork Productions. In addition to their stage musical partnership, the authors have written separately on many television projects including Ed (Kevin Murphy) and Honey I Shrunk The Kids (Dan Studney).
The film is the first project in a new partnership between Showtime and Apollo Screen, a relationship that was facilitated by industry veteran Jim Veres who will serve as Executive Producer of the movie along with Jan Korbelin, Managing Director and CEO of Apollo Screen, a German funding and production company. "It is crucial to find and nurture productive relationships that allow the creative process to continue in today's challenging market," Veres remarked. Jan Korbelin commented, "Aligning our resources with the unique vision of Showtime's Bob Greenblatt is an opportunity we would not miss."
No airdate has yet been set.
Garnering strong critical acclaim for its off-Broadway run in 2001, the musical took Los Angeles theatergoers by storm in the 1999-2000 season and broke records at the Hudson Theatre. It also swept the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Backstage West Garland and Los Angeles Theatre League Alliance Ovation awards, winning Best Musical or Best Production honors from all three organizations.
Reuniting the stage version's creative team, the film will be directed by veteran director Andy Fickman and written by Kevin Murphy (book and lyrics) and Dan Studney (book and music), all of whom will also executive produce. Fickman, Studney, and Murphy all received the Ovation and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards for the stage version.
"We are very excited about this musical which I would describe as a cross between 'Grease' and 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'," stated Greenblatt. "It's ideal for premium cable because you will see nothing like this anywhere else on television.
And the cleverness of the musical satire makes it both highly entertaining and sophisticated at the same time. If 'Rocky Horror' were being made today, it would probably only happen at Miramax or on premium cable."
REEFER MADNESS is a tongue-in-cheek comedy adaptation of the classic anti-marijuana propaganda film of the same name that was released in 1936 as a cautionary tale. The musical begins with the gathering of a group of concerned parents at the local high school to view an informational film dramatizing some of the consequences of their kids getting hooked on drugs. The drab black and white of Smalltown USA quickly segues into the bright Technicolor of the film-within-a-film that focuses on sweet 17-year-old Jimmy who falls in with an evil marijuana dealer. With just one drag of the demon weed, the clean-cut Jimmy quickly goes into a twisted, hilarious downward spiral of reefer, sex and mayhem.
Filled with a highly original score of songs and musical sequences, the stage version quickly developed a cult audience that knew every lyric and line of dialogue in the show. When the original Los Angeles production closed, it had run 150 performances and was the longest-running show of its size in L.A., as well as one of the longest-running shows in L.A. history. It then won an unprecedented 20 of its record 22 award nominations from the various Los Angeles critics groups, often beating out big-budget commercial productions such as Fosse and Cabaret in head-to-head competition. The show also appropriately won "High Times" Magazine's Production of the Year award.
Andy Fickman is a familiar Los Angeles stage director, most recently represented by the long-running Jewtopia. His film directing credits include the indie comedy Who's Your Daddy for Vernah Harrah's Middle Fork Productions. In addition to their stage musical partnership, the authors have written separately on many television projects including Ed (Kevin Murphy) and Honey I Shrunk The Kids (Dan Studney).
The film is the first project in a new partnership between Showtime and Apollo Screen, a relationship that was facilitated by industry veteran Jim Veres who will serve as Executive Producer of the movie along with Jan Korbelin, Managing Director and CEO of Apollo Screen, a German funding and production company. "It is crucial to find and nurture productive relationships that allow the creative process to continue in today's challenging market," Veres remarked. Jan Korbelin commented, "Aligning our resources with the unique vision of Showtime's Bob Greenblatt is an opportunity we would not miss."
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