After getting almost universally great reviews, Pride opened in the UK last week placing third on the chart, which isn’t bad considering few gay-themed British movies even make it into mainstream cinemas. However it appears it may not end with a movie, because as with fellow miner’s strike movie Billy Elliot, it may become a musical.
The idea has been floated by the movie’s writer Stephen Beresford, who told London Live (via THR) that he’s talked about it with the film’s director, Matthew Warchus and has also spoken to some West End producers about it. Warchus made his name in the theatre, including directing the acclaimed musical version of Roald Dahl’s Mathidla. He also recently took over from Kevin Spacey as the creative director of the Old Vic Theatre in London, so he’s certainly a good person to have on board to get Pride on to the stage.
However it’s far from a done deal and appears to be merely in vague discussions at the moment. Beresford says, “[Warchus] came up with nine reasons why we shouldn’t do it, but by the end of the journey we had turned them into reasons why we should. He adds, “These days, when films are created, all those things, these possibilities, are taken into account when they are sorting out the rights. We’ll see.”