Jennifer Lopez is attached to star in a feature adaptation of the 1993 Broadway musical “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” written and directed by “Dreamgirls” filmmaker Bill Condon, Variety has confirmed with a source close to the production. The music is by legends John Kander and Fred Ebb, based on the novel by Manuel Puig and the book of the musical by Terrence McNally.
The musical is set in an Argentinian prison in 1981. Lopez would play the titular role, a fantasy woman named Aurora created by Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser serving an eight-year sentence for allegedly corrupting a minor. To escape the horrors of his imprisonment, Molina imagines movies starring Aurora as a classic silver screen diva, including a role of the spider woman, who kills her prey with a kiss. Molina’s life is upended when a Marxist, Valentin Arregui Paz, is brought into his cell, and the two form an unlikely bond.
The new movie, which is independently financed, is currently searching for an unknown to play Molina. According to a casting breakdown obtained by Variety, the role “presents as an openly queer and effeminate gay man, but may be on the non-binary/trans femme spectrum.” Rehearsals would start in February with a plan to begin filming in April in New Jersey.
The two previous adaptations of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” — the 1993 musical, and a 1985 feature film adaptation of Puig’s novel from director Héctor Babenco — both won wide critical acclaim and major awards attention. William Hurt won the Oscar for best actor for playing Molina. And the musical won seven Tony Awards, including for best musical and for all three performers: Chita Rivera, Brent Carver and Anthony Crivello.
Condon has become one of the preeminent filmmakers of the movie musical: He wrote the screenplay for 2002’s “Chicago,” wrote and directed 2006’s “Dreamgirls,” directed 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast,” and co-wrote the screenplay for 2017’s “The Greatest Showman.” He also directed both parts of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn,” and most recently directed regular collaborator Ian McKellen in the 2019 thriller “The Good Liar.” He won an Oscar for his screenplay for his 1998 film with McKellen, “Gods and Monsters.”
Lopez — whose ninth studio album, “This Is Me… Now,” is set to debut early next year — is one of the most successful multi-hyphenates in the industry, launching her film career by playing the late Tejano star Selena in 1997’s “Selena.” Incredibly, however, this would be her first role in a full-fledged musical.
There was a film of Kiss of the Spider Woman before there was a musical. It was a niche hit. I’d argue the musical also was niche and that the main draw was Chita Rivera. There wasn’t even a touring company if I recall correctly. Not sure why Condon thinks this is going to be successful, but I hope I am pleasantly surprised.
Condon’s track record in adapting stage musicals to film is pretty darn respectable. Chicago is one of the best movie musicals of the past 20 years, Dreamgirls had a lot of good things going for it (including an Oscar-worthy performance by Eddie Murphy), and Beauty and the Beast, while anodyne, made bank. Agree though that Kiss of the Spider Woman has less mainstream appeal than any of those projects. I suppose that’s where Jennifer Lopez comes in?
There was a US regional tour in 1996 with Chita Rivera according to wikipedia, as well as various US regional and international productions. The show premiered in London of course, which is why technically there is no original Broadway cast recording. The original London cast recording featured the same three principals as the original Broadway cast, so they didn’t bother making a new one. There was a Broadway _replacement _cast recording made after the original trio moved on and Vanessa Williams, Howard McGillin and Brian Stokes Mitchell took over, which is one of the few times a replacement Broadway company got to be recorded rather than the original.
It’s been quite a while since I saw the 1985 movie but recall it was worth watching. It was the first thing I remember seeing William Hurt in anything.
The movie was amazing. Regretfully I never got to see the stage play.
I saw a local production a few years ago. It was fine but not spectacular. One issue with Kiss of the Spider Woman, I think, is that while the show has that distinctive Kander & Ebb darkness that many of their shows (and both of their most popular ones) have, it lacks that sense of fun that make Chicago and even Cabaret more palatable to the general public.