There are few stories that have a more interesting life span than Little Shop of Horrors. Beginning it’s life as a low-level B horror film in the 60′s it has managed to gain increasing popularity by bouncing back and forth between screen adaptations and broadway musicals ever since.

Considering the last popular version of the tale was a Broadway revival, it seems like it is time to bring it back to the big screen, and according to the LA Times, some people agree:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Warner Bros. are in talks for a movie remake of “Little Shop of Horrors”  — with the help of some Broadway heavyweights behind the scenes. In addition to developing the film, Gordon-Levitt could star as Seymour, the lonely, lovable florist’s assistant who raises a giant alien plant motivated by sarcasm, song and human blood.

Now most of you probably hold the 80′s film starting Rick Moranis and Steve Martin in high regard, and think that this is just another in a long line of needless re-makes. For this particular tale I have to disagree, a new telling with an actor as talented as Joseph Gorodn-Levitt is exactly the next logical step for this story.

Of course that said, we all should pray we get a mostly practical Audrey 2.

The Muppets are coming! The Muppets are coming!

This holiday season the Muppets are back in the aptly titled movie, The Muppets. I am a second generation Muppet fan, I grew up on the Muppet Babies and my first cinematic exposure to Jim Henson’s genius was A Muppet Christmas Carol. So, for me, the classic era of the Muppets was discovered after the fact, meaning that most of this music I love but don’t have that same childhood bond with it that most fans possess. I like to feel this gives me a more objective look on this album.

Like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney has released an album collection of classic songs, covered by hots bands of today. This actually happened twice for Nightmare and was splendid both times. The Muppets seemed like a natural next step for this trend with a new movie coming out and a stable of classic songs to choose from.

The collection isn’t as strong as the Nightmare release, but it does have some excellent versions of some of my personal favorite songs. This concept excels when you have a perfect blend of franchise and band, Marylyn Manson and Jack Skeleton are perfect together, unfortunately The Green Album doesn’t offer enough of that kind of perfect mix.

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In the coming months, you can expect to see tons of cross promotion between our favorite Muppets and new, hip, pop culture icons of today as we prepare for the release of Jason Segel’s upcoming Muppets movie due out this November.

With that, their brand new soundtrack, The Green Album, fans of the original Muppets get some of their favorite songs covered by modern rock and alternative bands like “Mahna Mahna” performed by The Fray, “Our World” performed by My Morning Jacket, and the original “Muppet Show Theme” sung by OK Go.

We’ve seen OK Go do some wacky videos in the past, but we’re not getting them in full-on Muppet action as they perform the cover of “The Muppet Show Theme” with the full cast of the Muppets.

Check out the video, including the very meta “nightmare ending” at the end, pick up The Green Album in stores and on iTunes now, and see The Muppets in theaters on November 23rd.

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That’s right, for those who didn’t know Footloose was getting remade, it’s time to take it in. Who needs classic films or musicals when they are already being remade for a modern audience with absolutely no resemblance of the iconic imagery that made the film a classic to begin with?

With no sign of Kenny Loggins or anything that made us enjoy the original, we can expect this to be less like Footloose and more like Step Up Country. Here’s the synopsis.

Ren MacCormack (played by newcomer Kenny Wormald) is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where he experiences a heavy dose of culture shock. A few years prior, the community was rocked by a tragic accident that killed five teenagers after a night out and Bomont’s local councilmen and the beloved Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) responded by implementing ordinances that prohibit loud music and dancing. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister’s troubled daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) in the process.

At least, from what we can see in the trailer, we get an updated version of the famous “fight dance” sequence that has made everyone laugh and cry at the same time. Check out the trailer after the jump and Everybody cut loose this October.

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For those who have been waiting for their first glimpse of the brand new Muppet Movie trailer, it’s here!….sort of. Disney is getting a bit tricky with their first trailer for the film by disguising it as a campy romantic comedy starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams called Green With Envy.

It’s actually quite brilliant of Disney, if they can pull something like this off (which they will). We can only imagine why they’d want to uncover the film this way, except for the possibility that the film’s name is still in debate. The original title was proposed as The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made, which has later been rejected by the studio. We just hope Green with Envy isn’t the film’s final title. Here’s the “synopsis.”

Love struck meets star struck when a small town couple (Amy Adams, Jason Segel) head to Hollywood and discover their dreams of hitting the big time may cost them the one thing that matters most – each other.

Those who feel like Segel won’t be able to capture the original spirit of The Muppets, know that this trailer has it all from self-referential humor, to full choreographed musicals, to Sweetums!

We don’t want to ruin any more for you, so be sure to check out the trailer after the jump, and catch “Green with Envy” in theaters on November 23rd.

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Lately, everything seems to be coming up Batman. This year alone, we’ve got the sequel to the successful video game Batman:Arkham Asylum, a possible new first-person shooter follow-up, the start of the viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight Rises, and now a LIVE Batman stage show happening overseas.

How do we know that this film will be different/better than the 3-year mess of a show Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark has been? DC guru Geoff Johns will be penning the script, there is no music, and most importantly: no rubber nipples.

Here’s what Johns had to say about the show’s premise:

We want to bring out a whole other level to Batman by looking at Robin’s journey from a circus performer to an orphan after his parents are killed, to a superhero. Batman lost his parents, but he can cope with his pain and owns it. Then he sees this boy and it reopens all those wounds. Robin’s journey very much brings up Bruce Wayne’s journey. [...] I think very much that Robin brings out a whole new level to Batman. I actually think it is more about Bruce Wayne and Batman than almost any story.

We’ve got a glimpse at the costumes and characters from the show for you after the jump, so check it out!

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Trey Parker has always been vocal about his love of musicals. Dating back to his time in college and his first feature film, Parker has shown a consistent appreciation of the musical experience. So it was only a natural that he would parlay that success into an actual Broadway show.

After the mega success of South Park and several feature films, Trey Parker and Matt Stone invaded Broadway with their brand of irreverent humor and sharp social commentary with The Book of Mormon. It premiered to critical acclaim, and sold out shows, igniting a new found passion for musicals amongst fans who would otherwise avoid Broadway.

That success has not gone unnoticed by the theater community, The Book of Mormon has recently received 14 Tony nominations. This puts Trey and Matt that much closer to the elusive “EGOT,”  the quintuple victory that nets the recipient an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Trey and Matt have already won multiple Emmy’s and have been nominated for Grammy’s and an Oscar. Of all the current entertainers working today, Matt and Trey hold a unique position  as champions of alternative forms of entertainment.

The Book of Mormon is currently playing on Broadway, and the 15th season of South Park can be seen on Comedy Central Wednesdays at 10/9C.

Green Day is a generation defining band. They have grown and evolved with their fans consistently over the past two decades but have also managed to remain as relevant today as they were when their first hits came out in the early ’90s.

Green Day’s evolution as a band took another interesting turn last year when their latest mega-hit album ‘American Idiot’ was adopted into a stage musical. Logically there is only one place to go after you take Broadway: Hollywood!

Deadline is reporting that Universal Pictures is looking into turning the successful musical into a feature film:

Universal Pictures is negotiating to turn the Green Day-fueled Broadway musical American Idiot into a feature film. Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning Milk scribe, is in talks to write the script, and Michael Mayer will direct.

Mayer helmed the stage run of the musical, which is closing on Broadway April 24 and launching a tour in the fall. Black most recently scripted J. Edgar, the Clint Eastwood film that stars Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover.

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It is almost becoming laughable how many things seem to be going wrong with the Broadway production of Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. We’ve already been through heartbreak several times, whether it was about Alan Cumming and Evan Rachel Wood leaving the show, to the budget getting slashed in half, to countless actors being hurt during live productions. Things just don’t seem to be going well at all for the first-ever Broadway musical about a superhero.

Time to add two more pieces of bad news to that list, as it’s been rumored that Julie Taymor, one-half of the genius behind the whole production, may be asked to leave the production, due to producers having serious issues with some of the aforementioned problems.

The creative staff have been given a list of rules and health regulations that need to be implemented in order for the show to continue to its opening night, which was originally slated for Monday of next week (March 15th). Now it seems that that, too, may be changing.

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A few weeks ago, we brought you the very first teaser for the upcoming HBO special, which is essentially The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway, but televised. As we get closer to the March airdate, we’ve got even more to show you.

From an HBO press release:

Opening to critical acclaim at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Nov. 11, 2010, “The Pee-wee Herman Show” is 90 minutes of subversive humor and childlike wonder based on both Reubensʼ original stage show, “The Pee-wee Herman Show,” and the Emmy®-winning Saturday morning TV show, “Pee-weeʼs Playhouse,” which became a cultural phenomenon. The New York Times called the new Broadway show “yummier than chocolate,” with New York saying, “Welcome back, Pee-wee! You were sorely missed,” while the New York Post noted, “The audience screams for joy!”

The special is set to air on March 19th at 10pm, and will be the first interaction with the character for most people living outside of the New York area since the film decades ago. It will have to hold us over until Judd Apatow works out a script for “Herman” to return to the silver screen.

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Since it’s conception over a year ago, there seems to be absolutely no good news coming out of Julie Taymor’s upcoming Broadway adaptation of Spider-Man, unfortunately titled Turn Off The Dark. The film has gone through two budget slashes, several casting changes, and now a slew of injuries and technical errors during live performances.

It seems that yet another (the fourth reported) actor has been injured during a live performance. This one took place last night and actually made it about 80% of the way without an incident. Then this happened. From THR:

Monday’s night performance was stopped short after an unidentified performer — either the actor playing the title character or his stunt double — fell about eight to 10 feet during the final moments of the show, the New York Times reported. Some equipment also fell into the audience when the fall happened.

“He fell several feet from a platform approximately seven minutes before the end of the performance, and the show was stopped,” a statement from the musical said. “All signs were good as he was taken to the hospital for observation.”

One audience member told the Times that the accident happened during a scene when Spider-Man was rescuing his love interest, Mary Jane, while she dangled from a rope attached to a bridge. The witness said he saw the actor playing Spider-Man appear to trip and fall from the bridge into an open pit at the end of the stage.

At this rate, the film has hurt more musical actors and cost more money than any other cross breeding of comic books and any form of mass media. It looks like just some things aren’t meant to adapt.