The Producers

[cine]

Trailer here.

Release Date: December 16th 2005 (limited)

Cast: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Gary Beach, Roger Bart, Jon Lovitz.

Director: Susan Stroman

Screenwriter: Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan

Premise: This laugh out loud comedy is based on the hugely successful stage play of the same name and tells the story of a down on his luck producer (Lane) and his accountant (Broderick) and their 'get rich quick' plan – to overfinance a huge flop and pocket the excess budget...until the show unexpectedly becomes a smash hit!

[Pas]

Wasn't the original good enough

[cine]

pas i'll kill you.

bancroft told brooks to make a broadway show out of the film. then it became one of the most successful broadway shows ever. naturally, a film version for the show had to be made. its the same premise but characters were removed (LSD), different story twists were added along with an entirely different ending, etc.

[modage]

and of course, as you can see from the poster, matthew broderick's character was made into a zombie.

[cron]

and of course, as you can see from the posters, the actors are made entirely from plastic. and what the fuck hollywood, uma's legs aren't that pretty.

[MacGuffin]

New Trailer here.

[MacGuffin]

Why a movie? 'It's there forever,' Brooks says
For "The Producers," Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane go back before the cameras to reprise their Broadway roles as Bloom and Bialystock, the high-strung theatrical impresarios who have the world's most unlikely comedy hit with "Springtime for Hitler."
Source: Los Angeles Times
 
When you're on the set of "The Producers," you hear all sorts of fancy theories about why Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane went back before the cameras to reprise their Broadway roles as Bloom and Bialystock, the high-strung theatrical impresarios who have the world's most unlikely comedy hit with "Springtime for Hitler."

But just ask Mel Brooks and he'll provide the real explanation:

"The only real reason to make this movie is to have forever the performances of four of our original geniuses from the musical: Matthew, Nathan, Roger Bart [who plays Carmen Ghia] and Gary Beach [who plays Roger De Bris]. Their performances were remarkable, but in the theater, once the show is over, it's gone. If you make a movie, it's there forever."

Brooks is clearly the godfather of "The Producers," having created the Broadway hit decades after writing and directing the original 1968 film. But even though he's often on the set, kibitzing, fussing about the budget and giving autographs ("I'm signing this," he told one fan, "as long as you promise me it's not a check"), he defers to Susan Stroman, who makes her film directing debut after directing and choreographing the Broadway musical.

"I didn't have to campaign," Stroman said. "One day Mel told me, 'We're going to do a movie, and you're directing it,' and that was it. He's been incredibly supportive. Of course, if I have a question about comedy, I'll think, 'Well, there's the genius. Why don't I ask him?' "

The original stars have been joined by Uma Thurman, who plays Ulla, the sexy Swedish secretary, and Will Ferrell, who takes on the part of neo-Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind. For the stage veterans, the biggest adjustment is doing their numbers without the noisy approval of a live audience.

"It's a surprisingly different experience," Broderick said. "Onstage, you tell the jokes and get that wonderful big laugh. Here, you tell the same jokes and get complete silence. We've been used to a lot of reassurance from the crowd. Still, it's been great. Susan is a real maternal force. And with Mel, let's just say that I know that when he makes jokes, he's only using 10%. He could really kill you if he wanted to."

On the set, Broderick is the perfect gentleman, Lane the glorious diva. "We all get along, just in different ways," Stroman said. "Matthew is quiet. Nathan is loud but very collaborative. He blames me for his bad knee and his slipped disk, but he seems to enjoy the whole idea of blaming me. Matthew is a phenomenal singer, like an Irish tenor. And when you watch Nathan dance, he's a man filled with joy. With this film, the comedy will always reign supreme, but we're trying to capture that old head-to-toe movie musical feel too."

[I Don't Believe in Beatles]

So, did anyone see this?

[modage]

cinephile did, but he didnt bother to review it.

[Figure 8]

I saw it.  It was.. eh.  Probably exactly what everyone around here thinks it will be.

[cine]

I saw it.  It was.. eh.  Probably exactly what everyone around here thinks it will be.

bethie and i are the only people here to see it besides you and we both thought it was better than eh [eh?]..

i'm hoping the oscars recognize it in the music category. it'd be a nice bookend for brooks's producers legacy by winning another oscar.

[Figure 8]

I saw it.  It was.. eh.  Probably exactly what everyone around here thinks it will be.

bethie and i are the only people here to see it besides you and we both thought it was better than eh [eh?]..

i'm hoping the oscars recognize it in the music category. it'd be a nice bookend for brooks's producers legacy by winning another oscar.

I don't know, to me it just kind of felt like the cast (especially Matthew Broderick) seemed just like they jumped into it and just thought it'd be a fun, light project, not putting much thought into it.

But with the music catagory: I saw this with a friend of mine and when the credits rolled with the new song, he just leaned over to me and said "They made this song just so they could get an oscar for best original song."

[cine]

But with the music catagory: I saw this with a friend of mine and when the credits rolled with the new song, he just leaned over to me and said "They made this song just so they could get an oscar for best original song."

your friend is a bit of an idiot.. did you watch with brooks at the tail end? classic.

i enjoy the musical a lot more. with something like chicago i can have fun with the film more cause of how they chose to do it. but with the producers they cut out a LOT of great stuff.. and a lot of jokes that work with a live theatre crowd. like when carmen ghia did his "yessssssssssssssssssssssssss" that was hilarious, but theres so many more visual gags with him in the broadway show. but some things only work live and some things only work on film. for what it was, i thought it was really fun.

[Figure 8]

But with the music catagory: I saw this with a friend of mine and when the credits rolled with the new song, he just leaned over to me and said "They made this song just so they could get an oscar for best original song."

your friend is a bit of an idiot.. did you watch with brooks at the tail end? classic.

i enjoy the musical a lot more. with something like chicago i can have fun with the film more cause of how they chose to do it. but with the producers they cut out a LOT of great stuff.. and a lot of jokes that work with a live theatre crowd. like when carmen ghia did his "yessssssssssssssssssssssssss" that was hilarious, but theres so many more visual gags with him in the broadway show. but some things only work live and some things only work on film. for what it was, i thought it was really fun.

Haha, I did see the Mel Brooks thing at the end.
But yeah, I pretty much do completely agree with you about all that.