Benj Pasek: Last News

La La Land is being adapted into a Broadway musical seven years after the release of the hit movie starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.The film stars played an actress and a songwriter who strike up an ill-fated romance while struggling to make it in Hollywood.Now a stage version is headed to the Great White Way under the direction of the acclaimed Bartlett Sher, Variety reports.The movie's songwriting team - composer Justin Hurwitz and lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul - has been reunited for the Broadway adaptation.Hurwitz won the Oscar for best original score Oscar for La La Land, which also saw the trio pick up best original song for City Of Stars.

A Broadway musical take of the six-time Oscar-winning, $472 million worldwide-grossing movie La La Land is in development, Emmy- and Tony-winning producer Marc Platt said Tuesday.

Apple TV+ is in the awards mix for the Ryan Reynolds-Will Ferrell musical Spirited, in particular for the big song and dance number Good Afternoon that has made the shortlist. This is a rip roaring full blown musical number, one that tests the stars ability to not only sing, but dance as well. Here, Reynolds, who suggested the song, discusses pulling it off with songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, best known for La La Land and for teaming with Hugh Jackman on The Greatest Showman. The same Jackman who is publicly campaigned against the tune for fear that Reynolds will be extra insufferable when they reprise their superhero characters Deadpool and Wolverine.

The Film Academy has unveiled its 15-track shortlist for the Best Original Song Oscar in 2023, which marks a confluence between stars old and new.

Apple Original Films announced the theatrical release of a new sing-along version of holiday musical comedy Spirited starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer in 100+ U.S. theaters starting this Friday, Dec. 16.

Apple Original Films today unveiled the official trailer for its new holiday musical comedy Spirited, starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer.

Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell both star in the upcoming movie "Spirited," a comedic, musical version of the holiday classic "A Christmas Carol."  A trailer for the Apple TV+ movie was released, showing a bit of the finished project that began filming in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2021.  According to Boston.com, scenes from the movie were shot in various Massachusetts locations, including Boston, Braintree, Devens, Everett, Framingham, Lynnfield, Melrose, Weymouth and Worcester.  Ryan Reynolds plays Clint Briggs in "Spirited" with Will Ferrell and Octavia Spencer. ( Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images) Ferrell plays the Ghost of Christmas Present in the movie, while Reynolds plays Clint Briggs, a reimagined version of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Katie Reul editor Despite its 19th century publication, Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” pervades as a popular holiday tale adapted dozens of times for cinema. So what makes the next iteration of this story unique from the rest? The answer is comedians Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds, who are co-starring in the musical “Spirited” — the latest adaptation of the canonical piece of literature. Reynolds will be playing Clint Briggs, a younger, funnier version of the old, crotchety Ebenezer Scrooge, while Ferrell will be portraying the ghost of Christmas Present. However, Clint turns the tables and reexamines the ghost’s past, present and future. For the first time, “A Christmas Carol” is told from the perspective of the ghosts in this hilarious musical twist on the classic Dickens tale.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Josh Gordon and Will Speck’s live-action musical “Lyle Lyle Crocodile” lives up to it name. The story, about a crocodile named Lyle voiced by Shawn Mendes that can dance and sing, features songs penned by the award-winning Justin Paul and Benj Pasek. The dup then brought in a team of songwriters to carve out toe-tapping, infectious earworms. From the get-go songwriting and composing duo Pasek and Paul knew Lyle would be a singing crocodile which made the project all the more exciting for them. “But when the voice actor became Shawn Mendes, that really informed a lot of the style and what we were going to write for,” explains Pasek. 

The classic computer game The Oregon Trail is currently being adapted into a musical from the same team who are bringing “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” to the big screen.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic The movie format where a character beloved by kids becomes a CGI creature, who is then plugged into a live-action universe, is one of the most casually technically astonishing of all popcorn genres — and, as often as not, one of the most stunted. It almost doesn’t matter if the hero is Garfield or Stuart Little, Alvin and the Chipmunks or Sonic the Hedgehog: The way this genre has descended from the noisy bravura of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” the actors tend to be reduced to one-note stooges who get stuck in too many green-screen reaction shots, whereas the critter at the center — the animated star — is, almost inevitably, a preening chatterbox who wears out his welcome by pelting the live-action players, and the audience, with too many bad punchlines.

J. Kim Murphy Do-re-mi-fa dys-en-ter-y! A musical adaptation of the classic computer game “The Oregon Trail” is in the works from the team behind “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.” In an interview with Collider, filmmakers Will Speck and Josh Gordon shared that they have been collaborating with their “Lyle, Lyle” songwriting team Pasek and Paul (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul), working to crack a darkly comedic musical version of the video game. Although no studio is currently attached, the group shared that it has obtained the rights to “The Oregon Trail.” The report states that the project is in “active development.”

New York City premiere of her new film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. The 40-year-old actress was all smiles on the red carpet at the premiere, held at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City. She also posed on the red carpet with Shawn Mendes, Lyric Hurd, Winslow Fegley and Scoot McNairy at the event.

Thania Garcia Shawn Mendes, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and more are on the soundtrack to the upcoming animated movie “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile!” Mendes, as the voice of the titular character, also revealed that he will be sharing one of the original tracks he wrote for the set titled “Heartbeat,” next Friday (Sept. 30). He is credited on eight tracks on the list and is also joined by co-stars Constance Wu and Javier Bardem, as well as Anthony Ramos. The full soundtrack will be available for streaming on Oct. 7, the same day as the film’s official premiere. A post shared by Shawn Mendes (@shawnmendes) Based on Bernard Waber’s 1965 children’s book, the Will Speck and Josh Gordon film follows Lyle the crocodile as he navigates New York. After the Primm family moves into their house on 88th Street, Mrs. Primm, played by Wu, is shocked to find the singing crocodile in her bathtub. Eventually, the croc makes friends with her son Josh (Winslow Fegley) and his owner Héctor P. Valenti, played by Bardem.

Disney has offered fans a first look at its live-action Snow White remake, starring Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) and Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman). The first images from the film directed by Marc Webb were unveiled as part of the studio’s D23 presentation, highlighting its upcoming slate of live-action and animated features, which also spotlighted the work of its subsidiary, Pixar.

Dear Evan Hansen entered a world pre-too many things to mention, at a moment of unimaginable innocence compared to the here and now.The musical, with a book by Steven Levenson, and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, had its world premiere at D.C.’s Arena Stage in 2015 and enjoyed a moment practically to itself at the forefront of a nuanced conversation about teens and depression, guns, suicide, and the pervasive influence of social media.The lore is long surrounding Michael Greif’s original production — perhaps most fervently among those who missed it — and the early revelation of seeing Ben Platt perform the title role.That was before Pasek and Paul had cemented their golden rep as the Oscar-winning lyricists of La La Land‘s “City of Stars,” and composers of original songs like “This Is Me” for Hugh Jackman’s blockbuster hit The Greatest Showman.That was before director Greif took Evan Hansen to Broadway and the show earned six Tonys, including Best Musical and Best Actor for Platt.Eras and movements have come and gone since the show helped frame new ways of considering a host of hot-button issues — chiefly teenage mental health — and before shocking real-world events, from Parkland to presidential politics, kept reshaping the conversation at a grueling and violent pace.Dear Evan Hansen now comes back around for a second time with the touring production of Greif’s Broadway staging, three years after its first stop at the Kennedy Center.It long ago shed its original cachet as the edgiest pop culture phenom around about disaffected teens. In fact, years of audience-pleasing commercial success might have smoothed some of the show’s formerly sharp edges.

EXCLUSIVE: The Jewish non-profit Reboot has launched its own production company Reboot Studios, which will provide seed funding for and develop Jewish content across theater, television, film, podcasts, music and publishing.

The teaser trailer for Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is here!

Wilson Chapman editorSteve Fickinger, the Broadway producer who won a Tony for “Dear Evan Hansen,” died suddenly on Friday in Laguna Beach, Calif., representatives confirmed to Variety. He was 62.Born in Winnetka, Ill., Fickinger began his career at Disney as a temp mail room worker, and worked his way up to become director of creative development for Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he oversaw the production of animated films including “Mulan,” “Tarzan” and “Lilo and Stitch.”He later transitioned to the Disney Theatrical Group, where he served as V.P.

You’ve definitely never heard Shawn Mendes like this.

Shawn Mendes.  Based on the book series by Bernard Waber, tells the story about the Primm Family -- played by Constance Wu, Scoot McNairy and Winslow Fegley — who start a new chapter in New York City.Their son has trouble adjusting to his new life. But things change when he discovers and forms a friendship with Lyle, the croc who lives in their attic, and loves music, caviar and taking baths. As the family begins to adjust to life with Lyle, the croc’s existence is threatened by the family’s neighbor, Mr.