Bill Condon & Larry Mark Reunite for 'The Song Is You' Musical Film

Deadline.com is reporting that Dreamgirls duo Bill Condon and Larry Mark are teaming up again to create a "musical-infused" film adaptation of the Arthur Phillips novel, The Song Is You.According to the report, Condon will write and direct the film, under the Focus Features banner in association with Random House films. Larry Mark will produce the film.

Published by Random House last year, The Song Is You tells the story of a 50 something director of commercials who becomes infatuated with a young lounge singer.  A romance ensues without the two ever meeting. After Mark and Condon took to the book, the rights were purchased by Michael Pruss, executive at Focus Features.

Condon tells Deadline.com: "The book is a story told through music, but there's a whole other dimension we can bring through film...This is a guy who has loved music since the moment he was born, who connected music to the big turning points in life and who retreats into music after suffering a trauma. He essentially falls inside his iPod Shuffle, that is the form the film takes. The only emotional connections he makes are dredged up through songs, until he stumbles into the bar and hears a young singer who slowly reawakens something in him. He becomes her guide and she his muse, in a relationship that is carried out through email messages and phone calls. The chance to tell a story through song is the thing that really turns me on."

To read the full report on Deadline.com, click here.

Condon came to prominence with his film Gods and Monsters, which he both wrote and directed. The screenplay was based on a novel written by Christopher Bram. For his efforts, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He would also be nominated for the same award for the Oscar-winning 2002 adaptation of the musical Chicago, which also brought him a second Edgar Award. Additional writing/directing credits include Kinsey, and 2005's Dreamgirls based on the acclaimed Broadway musical. Next up for Condon is filming Salmon Fishing in Yemen, by Simon Beaufoy, adapted from the Paul Torday novel.  Shooting commences in May. Additional projects include HBO's Tilda.

 

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