Neil LaBute considers adapting 70s musical Company

Company

Death At A Funeral director Neil LaBute is considering bringing Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company to the big screen.

The 1970s musical was revived on stage in 2006, and follows Bobby, a commitmentphobe and his happily linked-up friends.

The show was celebrated for its ability to bring very adult issues to a Broadway show, something that had rarely been done (and well) before. As Sondheim noted, “what [ people ] came to a musical to avoid, they suddenly find facing them on the stage.”

LaBute, whose latest play In A Forest, Dark And Deep opened earlier this year in London with Matthew Fox and Olivia Williams, is apparently keen on transforming the musical into an all singing, all dancing movie.

During a press conference, the director called the play “ Carnal Knowledge with songs”, referencing Mike Nichols’ saucy ‘70s film.

Though this sounds like a great venture, we can’t help but remember that LaBute also directed the dreadful Wicker Man remake. Could this be a sign that he’s back on track? We hope so.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.