It just so happens that YA movies work in the Utah capital. Dear Evan Hansen over-indexed in Salt Lake City over the weekend, with five its top grossing cinemas being in theater. I would say that Dear Evan Hansen songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul had more hummable, jazzy tunes in the original La La Land with “Another Day of Sun” and “Someone in the Crowd” to send us home with a skip in our step.Īdditionally, what works in NYC plays best on the coasts, especially in the Northeast, as we saw with In the Heights having its most vibrant ticket sales there. And, right there, that’s likely the nuanced secret to success with Broadway fare on the big screen: Give everyone a little something more that they haven’t seen, and also make sure they send the audience home singing. Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway performing Les Mis was something no fan of that musical had ever seen, and was well worth the movie ticket price, not to mention Tom Hooper’s technique of recording the soundtrack live on set, versus pre-recorded, took the musical to another level. While Dear Evan Hansen fans who showed up gave it an A- CinemaScore, sometimes a musical, such as Les Mis, has to provide fans of the Broadway musical something more than a redux of what they’ve already seen on stage. The under-35 demo repped 71% of Dear Evan Hansen‘s audience. Dear Evan Hansen was geared at young adults, not young adults and parents, so unfortunately, Uni loses the latter core audience for the film. I think Uni knew this, which is why they didn’t screen the film in advance for critics ahead of TIFF.Īnother pandemic conundrum for Uni is that Broadway musicals cater to older audiences, and we know that demographic is having a very hard time turning out at the cinema during the pandemic. The movie would have still had the same inherent problems. Also, putting this film at Christmas arguably may not have made much of a difference. Not to mention, a movie that touches on suicide must be perfect. However, even pre-pandemic, a musical with a protagonist who isn’t likable or sympathetic is difficult to sell. The most immediate answers about Dear Evan Hansen‘s downfall is the simple fact that in a prolonged pandemic, those returning to the cinemas are looking for escapism, not a near 2 1/2 hour cry, especially a ballad-filled drama. Then, why in God’s name did this musical go sideways? Why would movie critics shun a piece of art which was faithfully translated from the stage? Furthermore, Dear Evan Hansen came from producer Marc Platt, who the studio has had a longstanding relationship with (he’s also Ben’s father). It was a logical greenlight, given the musical’s momentum at the time, for Uni to win the bid on the package. Look, Universal wasn’t doing anything experimental here with Dear Evan Hansen. This wasn’t Gasper Noe or Ari Aster’s upside-down version of Dear Evan Hansen. Similar to Universal’s Les Miserables and Mamma Mia! franchise (which all combined grossed $1.45B at the WW box office), the studio made the most faithful take on Dear Evan Hansen as they could, tapping Stephen Chbosky, a filmmaker known for emotional young adult dramas, and casting the project up with such awards-lauded actresses like Amy Addams and Julianne Moore, rising Booksmart star Kaitlyn Dever, and staying true to the musical’s roots by keeping Ben Platt, who originated and wowed in the title role with his low-to-high emotional singing. 1 Nielsen Finish For Ryan Murphy 'Halloween Ends' Cracks Top 10 On Peacock Ben Platt in Universal’s “Dear Evan Hansen” Universalīut in regards to Dear Evan Hansen, what remains shocking is how a critically beloved and popular stage musical, which made over $226M in its roughly four years on Broadway, becomes simply dismissed on the big screen.
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