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.

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.

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.

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.

Broadway is a wonderful place…if you have reasonable access to hit the city and see the shows. Unfortunately, for the others, they have to wait for a trip to the Big Apple or hope there is a movie adaptation of some of the Broadway greats. Thankfully, that won’t be the case for Pee-Wee Herman’s Broadway show.

Thanks to HBO, the one comedy show you couldn’t miss this season, The Pee-Wee Herman Show starring THE Pee-Wee Herman, is getting an HBO special just after the show finishes it’s run this Spring.

Starring Paul Reubens and the whole gang, you can catch The Pee-Wee Herman Show on HBO the night of March 19th. Just in time for this announcement, the network has released the first trailer for the show, which you can check out after the jump. So what are you waiting for?

While Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark may just be doomed as it enters it’s second month of being open, there is a new live superhero show on the horizon, which could just prove to be the one we needed all along. Get ready for Batman Live: World Arena Tour.

This is less of a musical and more of a live show with an 80-piece orchestra that will be the closest portrayal to the source material since the animated series in the 90s. Here’s the official synopsis.

Based on an original story being created exclusively for the show, Batman Live is a theatrical extravaganza of thrilling stunts, acrobatic acts and illusions. Never before has Gotham City, Wayne Manor, the Batcave and Arkham Asylum been brought to life on stage in a more visually exciting way. Join Batman and Robin as they battle their nemesis The Joker and other super-villains such as The Riddler, Catwoman, The Penguin, Two-Face and Harley Quinn, set on destroying Gotham City.

The show comes from the mind of Nick Grace, the man who brought Abba’s Mamma Mia! to the stage, and is currently touring in the UK and Ireland. There isn’t any official word on when the show is scheduled to hit the states, but you can expect the Dark Knight and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man to go head to head in the least manly of ways sometime by the end of 2011.

Check out some impressive set images from the dress rehearsal after the jump, and check in at the official Batman Live website for more updates.

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.

After hearing about Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’s preview night, who wouldn’t want to adapt a film to a live musical? Well it seems that producer Peter Billingsly, who played Ralphie in the 1983’s A Christmas Story is ready to bring the adaptation to the world, and pretty soon!

Not many know, but after Billingsly portrayed Ralphie, he went on to team up with Jon Favreau & Vince Vaughn and produce some of their bigger comedies such as Four Christmases, The Break Up, and Couples Retreat. It looks like Billingsly is readying the musical for this month, and even has some previews happening this week. From THR.

With previews beginning Wednesday at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre (and running Dec. 9-30), A Christmas Story: The Musical! will remain loyal to the film adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s short stories and includes an original score from Broadway composing duo Benj Paske and Justin Paul.

Though Turn Off The Dark really did fail pretty hard in it’s preview this week, this production could see a different outcome. What’s the next film to get a musical adaptation? Could we see Favreau’s Elf make it’s way to the stage next?

It’s like watching a bad soap opera when we report on the on-again, off-again relationship between Broadway and the upcoming Spider-Man musical titled Turn Off The Dark.

The show was originally slated for release earlier this year, and got all the way up to the point of casting Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming as Mary Jane and Green Goblin, respectively. Right after that point, the budget ran out, and the production was put on the shelf.

Then, months later, we were told that it was back on, now with a much smaller budget and a brand new, unknown cast. Now, as we get closer to the musical’s opening night on December 21st, we’re seeing more of the music and costumes (as you can see in the form of Electro to the right).

In a recent ABC News piece, Bono and The Edge, who wrote the music for the show, talked about the performance and even gave us a taste of one of the songs performed by Reeve Carney, who will be portraying Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming production.

Check out the full performance after the jump, along with a larger shot of Electro’s costume, and even a look at what Cumming would have had to wear if he stayed on as Green Goblin.