With “La La Land” singing its way to box office and awards season success, it’s inevitable that the rest of Hollywood will try and follow with their razzle dazzle movies. (On the indie side, Brady Corbet is already gearing up “Vox Lux” with Rooney Mara). But I have to admit, this high profile project isn’t exactly what came to mind when imaging what might be coming in the wake of the wondrous Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone picture.
READ MORE: ‘La La Land’ Leads 2017 Golden Globe Nominations
Deadline reports that pals and frequent collaborators Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig are lining up their own song and dance number. Intriguingly, it’ll be based on the book “Everything Is Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age Of Industrial Musicals“ by Steven Young and Sport Murphy, which as the title suggests, explores how musicals were used to sell everyday products. Here’s the book synopsis:
From the 1950s to the 1980s, American corporations commissioned a vast array of lavish, Broadway-style musical shows that were only for the eyes and ears of employees. These improbable productions were meant to educate and motivate the sales force to sell cars, appliances, tractors, soda, and a thousand other products. Though most of these shows were lost to the universe, some were recorded and distributed to convention attendees via souvenir vinyl records. The little-known world of industrial shows is reconstructed through the record collection of author Steve Young, who has spent twenty years finding the extremely rare souvenir albums as well as tracking down and interviewing the writers and performers. Through the records themselves as well as behind-the-scenes stories, a new perspective on American history, culture, and business emerges. Eye-popping visuals, samples of confounding and hilarious lyrics, and witty commentary by Young and co-author Sport Murphy (who also contributes original artwork) bring the topic to vivid, astonishing life. A companion website will offer streaming audio of the songs which seem too crazy to be real—but not only are they real, they’re often a revelation.
One can easily see the comic potential in the material, and big guns Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (“Hairspray“) will be writing the score. No word yet on a director or screenwriter, but Ferrell and Wiig singing about the magic of toilets or vacuum cleaners? We’re in.