MISS SAIGON 25th Anniversary Special Flying to Theaters This Fall; Danny Boyle-Helmed Film on Track for 2018 Start

By: May. 26, 2016
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With the West End behind it, Cameron Mackintosh's MISS SAIGON continues on its forward trajectory. With Broadway in its sights, a pair of films are now also on the horizon.

The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye reports that not only is Danny Boyle's 2018 film adaptation still on track (with his long-time collaborator Simon Beaufoy also at work on the screenplay,) but a '25th Anniversary Performance,' featuring footage from the musical's closing night in London and its 2014 star-studded gala, is also in the works. The anniversary special, produced by Mackintosh and Universal, is set to be screened worldwide in theaters on October 16 before receiving a digital and DVD release.

A big screen adaptation of MISS SAIGON has been rumored since 2012 and mentioned again when the Boublil and Schönberg musical returned to the West End in 2014.

The London revival closed in February but will return to Broadway, followed by a U.S. national tour, in Spring 2017. UK stars Eva Noblezada and Jon Jon Briones are set to reprise their roles in New York. Changes to the production for the West End production included a new song and slight book revisions, and lyricist Michael Mahler has boarded the Broadway version to rework portions of the libretto. No word on whether these changes will appear on the big screen as well.

Mackintosh's new production of Miss Saigon swept the board at the 2015 Whatsonstage.com Awards, winning a record-breaking nine awards, the most awards ever won by a single show in the 15 year history of the awards including: Best West End Show; Best Revival of a Musical; Best Leading Actress in a Musical and Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

Set in 1975 during the final days of the American occupation of Saigon, Miss Saigon is an epic love story about the relationship between an American GI and a young Vietnamese woman. Orphaned by war, 17-year-old Kim is forced to work as a bar girl in a sleazy Saigon night club owned by a notorious wheeler-dealer known as 'The Engineer'. John, an American GI, buys his friend Chris the services of Kim for the night. That night will change their lives forever. The most successful musical in the history of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Miss Saigon has also been performed in 28 countries, over 300 cities in 15 different languages, has won over 40 awards and been seen by over 35 million people worldwide.

Check out highlights from the 2014 anniversary gala below!



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