Lionel Ritchie has been making music professionally since the late-‘60s, so as you might imagine, he has a number of hits in his catalog. And Disney is ready to take that catalog and turn it into box office gold, with a new film titled “All Night Long.”
According to Variety, Disney has hired Pete Chiarelli to write a script for a new jukebox musical based on the songs of Lionel Ritchie, titled “All Night Long.” The plot of the film is not yet known, but the idea is to replicate the success of the “Mamma Mia!” film franchise, which used ABBA music for the basis of the story. But in Disney’s case, they’re looking at one of the biggest names in R&B to carry the film.
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Chiarelli is probably best known as a writer for the recent hit rom-com, “Crazy Rich Asians.” Before that, he’s credited for writing the film, “The Proposal,” as well as a story credit for “Now You See Me 2.”
“All Night Long” is hoping to continue the trend of film musicals being huge hits at the box office. Not only has “Mamma Mia!” been a big draw on the big screen, but films such as “Bohemian Rhapsody” (which earned $900 million worldwide) has shown that people are more than willing to spend the money for a movie ticket to hear an actor belt out some recognizable tunes.
In addition to the title song, Ritchie has a number of hits over the decades, including “Easy,” “Hello,” “Say You, Say Me,” “Endless Love,” and “Dancing on the Ceiling,” just to name several. Honestly, there are probably too many hits for Disney to include in a typical 90-minute feature.
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No word on when you might see “All Night Long” in theaters. The film is still in the early stages of development, as there’s not even a director attached.
You can hear some of the artists music below: