After all this time, Hollywood still believes in The Lost Boys. After years of failed sequels and multiple attempts at TV reboots, the film is now going off the screen and onto the stage. It’s being turned into a musical.
Variety reports that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Mythic Quest writer and star David Hornsby has written the book (Broadway speak for “script”) with Chris Hoch (Shrek the Musical) that’ll feature music from the band the Rescues. Tony Award winner Michael Arden will direct and actors James Carpinello, Marcus Chait, and Patrick Wilson (yes that Patrick Wilson) are among the producers.
That’s the bones, but what about the blood? There’s no word if the musical will be a direct adaptation of the 1987 film from director Joel Schumacher, nor the timeline or location when or where it might come to the stage. What we do know is that the franchise has had a rocky go of it in recent years. After several direct-to-video sequels failed to capture fans’ attention, Warner Bros. has tried multiple times, with multiple people, to reboot the series as a TV show. We don’t know if this kills any chance of that or not but, at the very least, it certainly shows no one has quite figured out what to do with The Lost Boys.
I consider myself a mega fan of the original film and have to say... this is the best idea yet. Music is at the very heart of The Lost Boys, from its unforgettable soundtrack song choices to the way pop-punk culture influenced the look of the characters and world. There are at minimum four songs already that can be in the show from the movie: “People Are Strange,” “Lost in the Shadows,” “Cry, Little Sister” and, of course, “I Still Believe.”
You can imagine the film’s rendition of that song, performed by none other than the sexy sax man himself, Tim Cappello—who io9 did a profile of a few years back—has to have been a huge inspiration here. And if a Broadway show can infuse some of that tone and energy, it could be a hit.
The Lost Boys stars Corey Haim and Jason Patric as two brothers who move to the Murder Captial of the World, the fictional town of Santa Carla, CA. There, they meet a group of vampires (led by Kiefer Sutherland) who attempt to bring them into the group, and several locals (including Corey Feldman) who fight back. You can stream it now on Max.
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