Even though he has a horrific track record as the director of A Walk to Remember, The Pacifier and Cheaper By the Dozen 2, Adam Shankman earned a lifetime's worth of good will from me when he turned the bubbly, uproarious musical Hairspray into a worthy movie. So I'm excited about one half of the projects he's announced, a musical in which a pent-up man suddenly hears people's inner thoughts in song. As for the other, a story that didn't work all that well when it was animated by Disney five years ago-- eh.
Shankman will direct Bob The MusicalSinbad, though he's not sure which will come first. Bob the Musical will be for Disney, an according to Variety, Sinbad will focus on the classic adventurer and his crew when they're stranded off the coast of China and embark on a quest to find Aladdin's lamp.
Shankman himself seems more excited about the musical. He told Variety, ""Ever since 'Hairspray,' I've been desperate to do another musical. The idea of working with all original music is thrilling. With 'Bob the Musical,' I'll be working again with ('Hairspray' composer) Marc Shaiman. And 'Sinbad' gives me the opportunity to really stretch my imagination as far as I can take it."
Personally I'd rather see Shankman direct a musical every year for the rest of his life, but if he needs to expand out into big-budget adventure, I guess I can accept it. The live-action Sinbad is almost guaranteed to be better than the animated Sinbad of the Seven Seas, and for that we can all be grateful.
