News

Adam Shankman Remaking Bye Bye Birdie

Bedtimes Stories director and executive producer Adam Shankman will develop and produce a remake of the 1963 classic film Bye Bye Birdie for Columbia Pictures.

Birdie is a stage favorite and the first musical was produced in 1958. The film has seen several film adaptations throughout the years. The musical tells the story of Conrad Birdie, a singer who is drafted, and, as a part of a publicity stunt, agrees to have one final encounter with a fan before heading off to war. The story is loosely based on the life of Elvis Presley.

Shankman will produce with his partner Jenniger Gibgot via their Offspring Entertainment banner. Columbia has been developing an updated version of the film for the past several years. One vision saw the main character reinvented as a hip-hop star. Multiple writers have tried their hand at the new script and, at one point, recent Golden Globe winner Tina Fey was attached to write the story, but she has since dropped out. No new writer is attached to the current incarnation.

Shankman's resume includes films such as the forthcoming Playing for Pizza, which follows a former NFL player who experiences a resurgence in an Italian league, and Hairspray 2.

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
01.13.09