Can Great Comet work as a film and who would you want in it?

[Call_me_jorge]

I’ve relistening to the great comet album and I think it would be a great piece to adapt into a film.
If I had it my way I would love to see Christian Bale as Pierre, Lupita Nyong’o as Natasha, George MacKay as Anatole, and Emma stone as Sonya

[JudyDenmark]

To me the whole success of Great Comet was the theatricality of it... the immersiveness and the experience in general. I think if you tried to make a film out of it, you lose that - then it just becomes a sort of weird hipster War & Peace adaptation. IMHO. 

[Oak2]

Nathan Lane as Pierre, or at LEAST James Corden. Pierre is supposed to be fat!

[Someone in a Tree2]

Without the environmental stunt staging at the Imperial, I'm convinced there's no there there. Sitting in a movie theater watching the cast go through their ridiculous disco gyrations without even getting a pierogi for my troubles would be the worst possible moviegoing experience.

[Elegance101]

The realism of a movie would clash with the innate anachronisms of it all. The immersive staging is needed for the specific way the story is told to work. I vote no.

[darquegk]

Great Comet is a multimodal piece in the way “Thriller” or “This Is America” are multimodal: the text, the music, none of it is made to stand on their own, but as multimedia experiences. You SHOULD leave Great Comet humming the scenery.

[Impossible2]

They should've just filmed the stage show, it wouldn't work as film any other way. 

[gypsy101]

I actually have been getting into the original recording a lot the last few weeks too and finally watched the BBC miniseries from a few years ago. I couldn't help but think (maybe because the actress did appear similar) that Sonya should be played by Anna Kendrick, she would be perfect for it. 

it would probably be a very difficult film to make, i agree they should have filmed it at some point on its trip to broadway

[HamilHansen]

It could work with a visionary director. 

 

CAST:

Natasha- Phillipa Soo

Pierre- Josh Groban

Anatole- Justin Timberlake

Sonya- Emma Stone

Helene- Amber Riley

Dolokhov- Bo Burnham (Probably not, but wouldn't he be interesting? He can play guitar....)

Andrey- A famous rapper for like a cameo. 

Bolkonsky- Unknown

Mary- Unknown

[The_Spielers_2017]

It needs an avant garde approach, but I think it could work. What got lost in the transfer to Broadway was the intimacy: having these characters a foot away from you pouring their hearts out. Just think what a closeup could do to a song like "No One Else" or the Finale?
And the cast would need to come from all walks of entertainment. From indie rock to musical theatre. The cast should be a patchwork of insane yet peculiar vocal talents. Bo Burnham would be an excellent Dolokov. I'd also love Weird Al as Balaga.
But Brandon Urie as Anatole. Auli'i Cravahlo or another DCOM pop star (with the pipes to back it up) as Natasha. With Groban as Pierre and Gaga as Helene. Either Ingrid Michaelson or someone of her type (Sara Barellis?) as Sonya. Stick in a classic musical theatre queen as Marya. Patti LuPone would kill. Then put Kristen Wiig as Princess Mary and a stellar character actor as Prince Bolkonsky (Robert Downey Jr. popped into my mind).

I know such a cast is unlikely to ever sign on to a project (especially after all of the controversy of the Broadway production), but GOD what I'd give to see this before a Wicked or Hamilton adaptation.

[Impossible2]

The Broadway cast were perfection in their roles. Their performances were fantastic and vocally none of them can be beaten.

Over my dead body are you replacing ANY of them with ****ty Hollywood actors who can't sing for ****.

This is Great Comet not La La Land or Moulin Rouge!

And Patti over Grace, please? Grace could sing her off any stage you put them on.

[darquegk]

But the point of making a film is to do things you couldn't do onstage, for reasons of budget or casting realities. If the show was absolutely perfect the way it was, why would you make a big-budget film, instead of just filming the stage show?

And if (as people are saying here) the stage show isn't filmable, why would you film it instead of just touring it or producing regional productions?

The film of The Producers was incredibly reverent to the stage version, and that approach didn't work... and that's a much more traditional, presentational show than Great Comet.

[Impossible2]

darquegk said: "But the point of making a film is to do things you couldn't do onstage, for reasons of budget or casting realities. If the show was absolutely perfect the way it was, why would you make a big-budget film, instead of just filming the stage show?

And if (as people are saying here) the stage show isn't filmable, why would you film it instead of just touring it or producing regional productions?

The film of The Producers was incredibly reverent to the stage version, and that approach didn't work... and that's a much more traditional, presentational show than Great Comet."

As I said I'd rather they just filmed the stage show.

I don't see the point of making a traditional film, there are already many filmed versions of War and Peace we don't need another. 

[Call_me_jorge]

The_Spielers_2017 said: "It needs an avant garde approach, but I think it could work. What got lost in the transfer to Broadway was the intimacy: having these characters a foot away from you pouring their hearts out. Just think what a closeup could do to a song like "No One Else" or the Finale?
And the cast would need to come from all walks of entertainment. From indie rock to musical theatre. The cast should be a patchwork of insane yet peculiar vocal talents. Bo Burnham would be an excellent Dolokov. I'd also love Weird Al as Balaga.
But Brandon Urie as Anatole. Auli'i Cravahlo or another DCOM pop star (with the pipes to back it up) as Natasha. With Groban as Pierre and Gaga as Helene. Either Ingrid Michaelson or someone of her type (Sara Barellis?) as Sonya. Stick in a classic musical theatre queen as Marya. Patti LuPone would kill. Then put Kristen Wiig as Princess Mary and a stellar character actor as Prince Bolkonsky (Robert Downey Jr. popped into my mind).

I know such a cast is unlikely to ever sign on to a project (especially after all of the controversy of the Broadway production), but GOD what I'd give to see this before a Wicked or Hamilton adaptation. "

Wow! That would be a great cast!

[JBroadway]

I love the show, and I think the score is Hamilton-level genius. In other words, I do not believe that the show's only merit was in its staging. Not by a long-shot.

Having said that, I still think it be difficult-to-impossible to successfully adapt it for film. Not because it's too tied to its staging, but because its just frickin' weird, and so stylistically separated from any kind of realism. As others have said, it would have to be a very smart director. 

[Impossible2]

JBroadway said: "I love the show, and I think the score is Hamilton-level genius. In other words, I do not believe that the show's only merit was in its staging. Not by a long-shot.

Having said that, I still think it be difficult-to-impossible to successfully adapt it for film. Not because it's too tied to its staging, but because its just frickin' weird, and so stylistically separated from any kind of realism. As others have said, it would have to be a very smart director."

The whole thing would rise or fall based on how it was directed. It would be a total bore as just a standard shot film.

If someone like Darren Aronovsky or Alejandro G Inarritu could come up with an original visual style for it, it could be amazing. I could imagine it working as a one continuous take type of thing (something they are both great at pulling off) it could be something really interesting and original just like its score.
 

[Elfuhbuh]

I'd be interested in seeing what a smart, talented filmmaker could do with this material. I'm not sure it would work, but it would be interesting to see them try and maybe be pleasantly surprised with the result.

[AEA AGMA SM]

I could see it working if done in the vein of Ken Russell's The Boyfriend or the 2012 film of Anna Karenina, with that blend of theatricality and realism. However, I don't think it would be any sort of huge financial success. Any production company that takes it on would have to be doing it as a prestige piece with an eye toward winning critical acclaim and awards, knowing that they would most likely take a wash at the box office.

[Impossible2]

AEA AGMA SM said: "I could see it working if done in the vein of Ken Russell'sThe Boyfriendor the 2012 film ofAnna Karenina, with that blend of theatricality and realism. However, I don't think it would be any sort of huge financial success. Any production company that takes it on would have to be doing it as a prestige piece with an eye toward winning critical acclaim and awards, knowing that they would most likely take a wash at the box office."

If Kagan had won the Weinstein Co bid we may have a had a decent chance of a film, I doubt anyone else would be interested in producing it.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Call_me_jorge said: "I’ve relistening to the great comet album and I think it would be a great piece to adapt into a film.
If I had it my way I would love to see Christian Bale as Pierre, Lupita Nyong’o as Natasha, George MacKay as Anatole, and Emma Stone as Sonya"

First of all, hasn't Christian Bale said that he's never doing a musical again after Newsies? Second of all, does Lupita Nyong'o sing?

[MichelleCraig]

I don’t think this property could work as a movie. It is so steeped in its theatricality (not a bad thing). Perhaps if it could’ve been effectively filmed/taped before it closed on Broadway, that could’ve been great...preserving the intent. 

If you really want to see an incredible version of this segment of the story, along with the rest of the whole narrative, seek out a now out-of-print DVD widescreen edition of “War and Peace” from Image Entertainment. It is spectacular...and that’s an understatement.

Supposedly, this 1967 film, adjusted for inflation, is still the most expensive motion picture ever produced. It shows. Won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

[gypsy101]

Patti as Marya would slay my existence in half if it ever happened.

is the point of making movies to do things you can’t do on stage? i thought the point was to make money.

[likecavalry]

During its off-Broadway run, the show had a kickstarter for a movie adaptation that would combine a recording of the show with additionally filmed shots. You can read more about it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thegreatcomet/the-great-comet-an-independent-film

It's a shame it wasn't funded. If this had been proposed during the Broadway run, I think it would have been a success. 

[Mister Matt]

I could see it working if done in the vein of Ken Russell's The Boyfriend or the 2012 film of Anna Karenina, with that blend of theatricality and realism.

Joe Wright's Anna Karenina was EXACTLY what I was thinking!

[Impossible2]

Mister Matt said: "I could see it working if done in the vein of Ken Russell'sThe Boyfriendor the 2012 film ofAnna Karenina, with that blend of theatricality and realism.

Joe Wright's Anna Karenina was EXACTLY what I was thinking!"

The one that flopped miserably and got mediocre reviews at best?