Hello? Is it a new musical you’re looking for? We can see it in your eyes, we can see it in your smile. This musical is all you’ve ever wanted, and Disney’s arms are opening wide. They know just what to say, and they know just what to do, to make a Lionel Richie musical come through. Yes. An original movie musical based on the work of Lionel Richie is in the works at the Walt Disney Studios, according to Variety.
What’s Happening:
- Tentatively titled All Night Long, a new movie musical based on the collective works of Lionel Richie is currently in development at Walt Disney Studios.
- It is expected that the movie would not be a biopic similar to that of Rocketman or Bohemian Rhapsody, but would fall in the realm of the jukebox musical, akin to Mamma Mia! (which followed the songbook of Abba) Or Across The Universe (which used the catalogue of music from The Beatles).
- Richie has won four Grammy awards and has reportedly sold over 100 million records worldwide. He’s a three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song, with one win in 1986 for the song “Say You Say Me” from the film White Nights.
- Richie can also be seen on American Idol, where he has been a judge on the ABC show since 2017 along with Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. It was actually this connection to the Disney company that helped him pitch the project to the studio.
- Richie and his manager are producing the project along with several other execs. Pete Chiarelli (Crazy Rich Asians, The Proposal) is currently penning the script for the new project.