Broadway to Hollywood Musical Adaptations
by urbanemovies | created - 20 Mar 2016 | updated - 10 Feb 2023 | PublicThe Color Purple (2023), Wicked: Part One (2024), Mean Girls (2024), Miss Saigon, The Book of Mormon and Sunset Boulevard - The Musical are poised to be the next in a long line of Broadway to Hollywood success stories. One wonders, which of these big stage musicals will become even bigger when it flips coasts?
Which of these select movies based on a successful Broadway musical play became the best Hollywood movie adaptation? * Broadway or Off-Broadway
Discuss the topic here.
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1. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
A newly-engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must seek shelter at the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-n-Furter.
Director: Jim Sharman | Stars: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien
Votes: 166,878 | Gross: $139.88M
Debuts: 1973 West End, 1974 Los Angeles and 1975 Broadway
2. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
PG-13 | 143 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A young soprano becomes the obsession of a disfigured and murderous musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opéra House.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 130,651 | Gross: $51.27M
Debuts: 1986 West End and 1988 Broadway
3. Grease (1978)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Good girl Sandy Olsson and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway
Votes: 300,430 | Gross: $188.76M
Debuts: 1971 Chicago and 1972 Broadway
4. Dreamgirls (2006)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover
Votes: 77,274 | Gross: $103.37M
Debuts: 1981 Broadway
5. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 260,951 | Gross: $163.21M
Debuts: 1959 Broadway
6. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Musical
The legendary tale of a barber who returns from wrongful imprisonment to 1840s London, bent on revenge for the rape and death of his wife, and resumes his trade while forming a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall
Votes: 386,852 | Gross: $52.90M
Debuts: 1979 Broadway
7. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,156 | Gross: $43.66M
Debuts: 1957 Broadway
Remake: West Side Story (2021)
8. Les Misérables (2012)
PG-13 | 158 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried
Votes: 345,957 | Gross: $148.81M
Debuts: 1980 Paris, 1985 West End and 1987 Broadway
Original: Les Misérables (1998)
9. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
G | 181 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon
Votes: 47,848 | Gross: $80.50M
Debuts: 1964 Broadway
10. Mamma Mia! (2008)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA.
Director: Phyllida Lloyd | Stars: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 274,196 | Gross: $144.13M
Debuts: 1999 West End, 2000 Toronto, 2000 US Tour, 2001 Melbourne, 2001 Broadway
11. The King and I (1956)
G | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Musical
A widow accepts a job as a live-in governess to the King of Siam's children.
Director: Walter Lang | Stars: Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno, Martin Benson
Votes: 27,914 | Gross: $21.30M
Debuts: 1951 Broadway
12. Chicago (2002)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
Two death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs
Votes: 243,313 | Gross: $170.69M
Debuts: 1975 Broadway
13. My Fair Lady (1964)
G | 170 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Votes: 101,793 | Gross: $72.00M
Debuts: 1956 Broadway
14. Into the Woods (2014)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A witch tasks a childless baker and his wife with procuring magical items from classic fairy tales to reverse the curse put on their family tree.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Emily Blunt
Votes: 148,015 | Gross: $128.00M
Debuts: 1986 San Diego and 1987 Broadway
15. Rent (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Rapp
Votes: 55,913 | Gross: $29.08M
Debuts: 1993 Workshop, 1996 Off-Broadway and 1996 Broadway
16. South Pacific (1958)
Approved | 157 min | Musical, Romance, War
On a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr, Ray Walston
Votes: 9,799
Debuts: 1949 New Haven, 1949 Broadway and 1951 West End
17. Rock of Ages (2012)
PG-13 | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A small-town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.
Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin
Votes: 81,658 | Gross: $38.52M
Debuts: 2005 Los Angeles, 2006 Las Vegas, 2008 Off-Broadway and 2009 Broadway
18. Guys and Dolls (1955)
Not Rated | 150 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
In New York, a gambler is challenged to take a cold female missionary to Havana, but they fall for each other, and the bet has a hidden motive to finance a crap game.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine
Votes: 19,353 | Gross: $13.00M
Debuts: 1950 Broadway
19. Jersey Boys (2014)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza
Votes: 36,557 | Gross: $47.03M
Debuts: 2004 La Jolla and 2005 Broadway
20. Oklahoma! (1955)
G | 145 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
In Oklahoma, several farmers, cowboys and a traveling salesman compete for the romantic favors of various local ladies.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Gordon MacRae, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood
Votes: 14,062
Debuts: 1943 New Haven, 1943 Philadelphia, 1943 Broadway and 1947 West End
21. Evita (1996)
PG | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
The hit musical based on the life of Eva Perón (Evita Duarte), a B-picture Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Domingo Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Madonna, Jonathan Pryce, Antonio Banderas, Jimmy Nail
Votes: 37,569 | Gross: $50.05M
Debuts: 1978 West End 1979 Broadway
22. The Music Man (1962)
G | 151 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' band leader to raise money before he can skip town.
Director: Morton DaCosta | Stars: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold
Votes: 19,162 | Gross: $14.95M
Debuts: 1957 Broadway
23. A Chorus Line (1985)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama, Music, Musical
Hopefuls try out before a demanding director for a part in a new musical.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Michael Douglas, Terrence Mann, Michael Blevins, Yamil Borges
Votes: 11,624 | Gross: $14.20M
Debuts: 1975 Off Broadway, 1975 Broadway and 1976 West End
24. Cabaret (1972)
PG | 124 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Joel Grey
Votes: 59,373 | Gross: $42.77M
Debuts: 1966 Boston and 1966 Broadway
25. Annie (1982)
PG | 127 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A spunky young orphan is taken in by a rich eccentric, much to the chagrin of the cantankerous woman who runs the orphanage.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking
Votes: 49,486 | Gross: $57.06M
Debuts: 1976 Goodspeed Opera House and 1977 Broadway
Original: Annie (1982)
26. Hello, Dolly! (1969)
G | 146 min | Adventure, Comedy, Musical
Matchmaker Dolly Levi travels to Yonkers to find a partner for "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder, convincing his niece, his niece's intended, and his two clerks to travel to New York City along the way.
Director: Gene Kelly | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Marianne McAndrew
Votes: 16,956 | Gross: $7.24M
Debuts: 1964 Broadway
27. Hair (1979)
PG | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Claude Bukowski leaves the family ranch in Oklahoma for New York where he is rapidly embraced into the hippie group of youngsters led by Berger, yet he's already been drafted. He soon falls in love with Sheila Franklin, a rich girl but still a rebel inside.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo, Annie Golden
Votes: 40,863 | Gross: $15.28M
Debuts: 1967 Off-Broadway and 1968 Broadway
28. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
G | 106 min | Drama, History, Musical
Film version of the musical stage play, presenting the last few weeks of Christ's life told in an anachronistic manner.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen
Votes: 29,902 | Gross: $24.48M
Debuts: 1970 Concept album and 1971 Broadway
29. Oliver! (1968)
G | 153 min | Drama, Family, Musical
After being sold to a mortician, young orphan Oliver Twist runs away and meets a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor in 1830s London.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed
Votes: 41,392 | Gross: $16.80M
Debuts: 1960 West End and 1962 Broadway
30. Cats (2019)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba
Votes: 55,902
Debuts: 1981 West End and 1982 Broadway
added 18 December 2019
31. tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.
Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesus, Vanessa Hudgens
Votes: 119,581
Debuts: 2001 Off-Broadway, 2005 Off-West End, and 2009 West End, 2007
Added 10 February 2023
32. In the Heights (2021)
PG-13 | 143 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In Washington Heights, a sympathetic New York bodega owner saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.
Director: Jon M. Chu | Stars: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera
Votes: 52,099
Debuts: 2005 Waterford, 2007 Off-Broadway, 2008 Broadway, and 2015 West End
Added 10 February 2023
33. Matilda: The Musical (II) (2022)
PG | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
An adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results.
Director: Matthew Warchus | Stars: Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham
Votes: 28,258
Debuts: 2010 Stratford-upon-Avon, 2011 West End and 2013 Broadway
added 10 February 2023
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