Screenhead

Bye Bye Birdie is in for a remake boost by Adam Shankman after his fairy tale hit Bedtime Stories.

Perhaps, movie folks didn’t know that Shankman is a musical veteran, who will take on Birdie.  The musical centers on Conrad Birdie, a popular singer whose character is based loosely on Elvis Presley. He’s about to be shipped off to the army, but as part of a publicity stunt, he agrees to one last encounter with a fan before he goes to war.

According to Hollywood Reporter, the 1958 musical has had several screen adaptations, including an Ann-Margret and Dick Van Dyke version in 1963 and a television movie starring Jason Alexander in 1995.

Columbia has been creating a remake for quite some time, even developing a logline re-imagining the title character as a hip-hop star. Such notable names as John Chu (Step Up 2 the Streets) and Tina Fey (SNL) has been attached to write new versions.

Shankman will easily manage Birdie as a veteran choreographer who reinforced his musical repertoire by producing and directing the Hairspray remake in 2007. He is filling is dance card rather quickly with two other projects, taking on as director for Bob: The Musical for Disney and The 8th Voyage of Sinbad for Columbia.