While movie musicals are rather hit and miss with audiences, it’s not a genre that Hollywood is prepared to give up on. One that’s currently in the works is a remake of Damn Yankees, which has long had Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal attached to star. No, I can’t imagine either of them singing either, but maybe they have the pipes of angels.
Now Deadline Hollywood is reporting that the movie has found a director in the form of Camp and Bandslam’s Todd Graff. As he’s been working in musicals as an actor since he was a kid and he’s shown a great ability to stage a musical sequence in both Camp and Bandslam, he would seem to be a very good choice.
Damn Yankees is a modern update of the Faust legend, and was first turned into a film in 1958, starring Tab Hunter and Gwen Verdon. It tells the story of a middle-aged baseball fan called Joe, who makes a pact with a man (who turns out to the devil) to become the young star hitter his team needs to win the league championship. Joe has until 9 o’clock on the day of the final game to return to his normal life, however the devil wants his soul and sets out to ensure that doesn’t happen. Gyllenhaal would play Joe, while Carrey would be the duplicitous devil.
At this stage, either star could still walk away, but I’m kind of intrigued to see them in a musical, and Damn Yankees is kinda fun. Hopefully Graff will be able to pull it off.