Will Dreamgirls break the curse on musicals thats been in effect since Chicago?
Magic 8 Ball says: Most likely Chicago seemed to jump-start a movie-musical revival in 2002 by nabbing the best-picture Oscar. But the musicals that followed, from the creaky Cole Porter bio De-Lovely to the over-the-top The Phantom of the Opera to the stagey version of The Producers fell flat with the public and voters. But where those efforts went wrong, Dreamgirls might just get it right. It’s got star power in Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson that might attract a more diverse and younger audience. And Eddie Murphy has proven over the years he can carry a song and shake it at the same time. Most important, it has a seasoned guide in Condon, whose Oscar-nominated script for Chicago capably transformed a stage show into a sizzling movie experience. Early clips shown at Cannes and media preview parties just raised expectations higher. “There is nothing else like it,” says Anne Thompson, The Hollywood Reporter’s deputy film editor, who has seen the film. “It has scale and
