The directors behind the iconic 1998 Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz rom-com are adapting the film for the Broadway stage.
One of Hollywood’s most iconic romantic comedies – There’s Something About Mary – is officially heading to the stage.
Filmmaking duo Peter and Bobby Farrelly (the Farrelly brothers) have revealed that they are actively working on a new stage musical adaptation of their smash-hit 1998 movie, There’s Something About Mary.
Speaking to ScreenRant, co-director Bobby Farrelly confirmed that the pair have been quietly developing the project for a few years, with hopes that the show could debut on Broadway (or the West End?) as early as next year.
Like The Book of Mormon
The original film became a global box office hit back in 1998, thanks to its boundary-pushing slapstick humour. The film grossed $369 million worldwide against a modest $23 million budget.
According to Farrelly, the brothers plan to bring that same high-energy, unfiltered comedy spirit to the stage, comparing their vision to one of the West End and Broadway’s biggest blockbuster hits.
“We’ve taken our story, There’s Something About Mary, and we’re working together trying to adapt it as a Broadway musical,” Farrelly revealed. “We just feel like we have a lot of ideas about songs and things like that… maybe like The Book of Mormon or something like that.”
However, translating a major film comedy into a full-scale stage theatre production is a lengthy process. “Broadway musicals take a long time,” Farrelly acknowledged. “So we’re in the middle of a couple-year project, and we will hopefully have it maybe by next year.”
A career-launching classic
There’s Something About Mary stands as one of the Farrelly brothers’ early greats, following their success with Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin. The brothers later went on to direct hits like Me, Myself & Irene, Shallow Hal, and the hit comedy series Loudermilk.
The movie starred Ben Stiller as Ted Stroehmann, a man who becomes hopelessly and hilariously obsessed with his high school crush, a surgeon named Mary Jensen, played by Cameron Diaz. The film boasts a starry cast that included Matt Dillon, Chris Elliott, Lin Shaye, Jeffrey Tambor, Sarah Silverman, and British comedian Lee Evans.
From screen to stage
The move into musical theatre comes as the Farrelly brothers note a changing landscape in Hollywood, where major studios have significantly reduced their investment in big-budget movie comedies.
“The comedies, there’s not as much of them being made, and they’re usually smaller-budgeted things,” Farrelly explained. “You’re lucky to get enough money to even make a comedy, because the studios really don’t support them like they used to.”
A future West End transfer?
While There’s Something About Mary The Musical is currently aiming for a Broadway premiere, a number of American movie-to-musical have originated in London ahead of Broadway, mainly due to the lower costs of mounting a big musical in the West End.
A recent example includes Back to the Future The Musical, which premiered in Manchester and then London, before heading to Broadway.
Further details regarding the show’s creative team, composer, and initial casting are yet to be announced, but more details are expected to be released in the coming months if the production’s aim of opening next year comes to fruition.
News of There’s Something About Mary The Musical comes the day after it was announced that recent hit movie The Housemaid is getting a stage adaptation.
Ben Stiller, star of There’s Something About Mary, has also been attached to a number of London stage projects. Chief amongst them is a stage adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining, which Ben Stiller was rumoured to be starring in.
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📷 Main photo: There’s Something About Mary set for a new stage musical
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