Ryan Murphy has assembled an all-star cast for his upcoming Netflix movie ‘The Prom,’ an adaptation of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical of the same name. Meryl Streep will lead the cast that also includes James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Ariana Grande, Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key, and Andrew Rannells, reports Variety. Murphy, who will direct and produce the film, is expected to start rolling the project in December for a fall 2020 release.
Based on an original idea conceived by Jack Viertel, ‘The Prom’ went on to become a fan-favourite on Broadway. The play also earned six Tony Award nominations. It is still playing on Broadway and will be there till August 11, 2019.
‘The Prom’ is set in the fictional town of Edgewater, Indiana, where a lesbian student named Emma plans to take her girlfriend to the school prom. When both are banned from attending the event, a bunch of struggling Broadway stars come together to fight for the girls. Streep will play Dee Dee Allen, a two-time Tony-winning Broadway star who is on the verge of oblivion after a devastating production alongside Barry Glickman (James Corden).
While searching desperately to find a shortcut to revive their waning Broadway careers, they chance upon Emma and her girlfriend. Along with other Broadway stars like Angie Dickinson (Kidman) and Trent Oliver (Rannells), they raise their voices for the cause of the lesbian couple. Grande will play the character of Alyssa, the “famous” kid of the head of the PTA. Awkwafina will don the role of a publicist named Ms. Sheldon and Key will appear as Principal Hawkins, who is Streep’s love interest and Emma’s friend.
‘The Prom’ is the first feature project under Murphy’s expensive five-year deal with Netflix. He produces the film with Alexis Woodall, Bill Damaschke, and Dori Berinstein. Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin adapted the script based on the play. Beguelin and Matthew Sklar will handle music and lyrics for the movie.
Last season was a prolific one for Murphy with the ambitious $300M overall deal with Netflix. The “super-producer” has three series, ‘The Politicians,’ ‘Ratched’ and ‘Hollywood’ under his belt so far. Though ‘Ratched,’ starring Sarah Paulson and ‘The Politician,’ starring Ben Platt, are under his 20th Century Fox deal, ‘Hollywood’ comes under the exclusive Netflix deal. Another two unannounced documentaries and a feature film adaptation of the Broadway sensation ‘The Boys in the Band,’ directed by Joe Mantello are also in the pipeline as part of the deal. Murphy emerged into prominence with TV shows like ‘Pose,’ ‘Glee’ and ‘American Horror Story.’
Cover Image Courtesy: 20th Century Fox (The Post).
