Warner Bros. has put Jon Favreau's Jersey Boys film project into turnaround which means GK Films gets to shop it around to other studios. Apparently the WB was never really on board with developing the film when they signed a first look deal with GK Films and principals Graham King and Tim Headington.
King is trying to keep the project alive and has already reached out to Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount for the possibility of acquiring it. Favreau's involvement with the project is only going to help the project find a new home. The period project has a decent sized budget for a film that isn't expected to feature any A-list actors. That aspect isn't going to help the project, but I understand why they want to take the film in that direction.
Variety listed a few actors that are currently being looked at to star in the film and there's few familiar names you might recognize. Those actors include John Magaro (Not Fade Away), Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia!), Vincent Piazza (Boardwalk Empire), Paul Dano (Looper) and James Badge Dale (The Pacific, Iron Man 3) for lead roles.
The film is an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons. The story centers around Vallie and the other members of pop music sensation the Four Seasons during their rise to superstardom. The script was written by John Logan (Hugo).
Production was supposed to start in January, with Warner Bros. targeting a Christmas 2013 release date. Hopefully they can find a studio that will take it on. What do you think of the actors they are looking to cast in it?
Here's a synopsis for the musical:
Everyone knows their songs. Few know their story. Named for a bowling alley that refused to book them, The Four Seasons—Frankie, Tommy, Bob, and Nick—were four high school dropouts who emerged from New Jersey to become true American Idols: one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. With a shiny doo-wop sound highlighted by lead singer Frankie Valli’s stratospheric falsetto, they wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds, and sold 175 million records worldwide—all before they were thirty.
Jersey Boys, Broadway’s 2006 Tony Award® Winner for Best Musical, is the electrifying tale of the Seasons’ rise, the moment they established their signature sound with their breakout hit “Sherry”; becoming a sensation on American Bandstand, of being young and full of hope and dreams and promise; of riding the rocket of success against the irresistible pull of the Jersey mob and the old neighborhood. Like the show itself, this gorgeous, full-color companion book captures the magic and the original excitement of the band’s life and times through all-new interviews with the band members. It also features the show’s libretto; interviews with the show’s writers, director, and cast; and over 200 photos from the band members’ personal collections of rarely seen memorabilia. For anyone who's ever sung along or danced to "Oh, What a Night!", “Walk Like a Man” or “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, and for those just discovering the timeless sound of The Four Seasons, Jersey Boys is the ultimate keepsake.