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.

While talking to Entertainment Weekly about the upcoming sequel to last year’s hit musical movie, Hairspray director Adam Shankman revealed that the gang in the film will check out the “next era of music” – the late ‘60s.

"That period was superpolitical, it was a time of serious change,” he noted. “We’re trying to track, in a comedic way, the historical elements."

Shankman added that they have got an outline and “ideas from John Waters,” with which they are reaching out to writers. A July 2010 release is planned.

On Variety is a report announcing Adam Shankman (Hairspray, The Pacifier) to be the director for the film adaptation of John Grisham’s Playing for Pizza.

In development at Phoenix Pictures and Offspring Entertainment, the story is being adapted by J. Mills Goodloe, which focuses on a veteran NFL quarterback who winds up on a semi-pro team in Italy after blowing his last chance to lead a team to Super Bowl.

Shankman plans on making the film in Italy itself; he hopes to start production in spring.