The general public "hate" movie musicals?

I don't think there was much indication Sweeney Todd was a musical in its marketing - the person I went with, who was expecting a gothic horror like Burton's earlier Sleepy Hollow groaned when he discovered it was!

It's possible that Wicked is well-known enough as a musical though that most movie-goers will be fully aware. Maybe they don't want to release too much of the soundtrack too early as they know that's what many are hanging on for?

I'm not sure people hate movie musicals otherwise Wonka wouldn't have been a hit, likewise any of the Disney live action remakes.

I had no idea Wonka was a musical until the singing started: a pleasant surprise. I do go out of my way to avoid any spoilers, but I'm surprised that didn't permeate.

They accept a lot of things in movies like superheroes and giant monsters thrashing each other but people singing is a step too far apparently.... 

People don’t even consciously think about the score most of the time, they are so used to the convention they take it completely for granted.

People simply don’t watch enough movie musicals for a singing cast to seem natural to them. They’re perfectly happy when it’s a context in which people do sing - musical biopics, for example.


My parents find superhero movies absolutely ridiculous and ‘unrealistic’ - which, of course, they are. But as I always point out to my dad, Hollywood Westerns were unrealistic too - and he loved them. It’s just what you are accustomed to.

I think it’s linked as much to emotional intelligence as it is to (sexual) insecurity. Unfortunately, some people are just a bit ignorant & thick on a base level before any other issues get added in!

In fairness, musicals being a 'gay thing' is a stereotype that's been used and owned for years by the gay community. And still is to this day, even musicals themselves make jokes out of it.

I don't think it's fair to just judge and blame straight people for that. In reality plenty of gay people hate musicals, and many straight people do like them.

Everyone has their thing of what they can and can't buy into. Musicals have to get over the cringe awkward moment of when they start singing, and that can be hard to do. The lack of good modern movie musicals hasn't helped get generations into musicals.

I know we've said it a million times but I do think the problem with movie musicals is you are shoe horning one art form into another - and for me personally more often than not it simply doesn't work. I really have yet to be convinced primary stage musicals can make amazing films.

The Cats disaster and the abysmal Les Mis films utterly failed to capture what made them special on stage.

While for me the problem with Les Mis was the diabolical speak singing and the least said about Russell Crowe the better; with Cats I've reflected that any feature film version would probs be awful. It's such an insanely theatrical show that you just cannot recreate that on film.

The massive exception for me is Evita which I thought was a sensational film. And the reason I feel is it remained true to the musical. Casting singers that can SING and putting the music first and centre. Madonna doing Don't Cry For Me Argentina was everywhere at the time; as were other stand out songs from the score. And they even gave the gays a banging club remix of DCFMA which I danced to like a maniac most Fridays and Saturdays in 1997. Zero shame in it being a musical and it worked.

Also liked Chicago. Although they cut songs the staging of the songs was magnificent and the cast were up to the job.

Back to Wicked - yes, it's disappointing to have a trailer for a musical with no singing. But unsurprising.

There was another article on this topic earlier this year on broadwayworld:

www.broadwayworld.com/article/The-Rise-and-Fall-of-Movie-Musicals--A-Statistical-Analysis-20240105

I've personally found it harder and harder to suspend my disbelief in more recent movie musicals... I'm such a huge Musical-nut and would watch the Little Shop of Horrors and Rocky Horror movie adaptations on repeat growing up, but now when I watch a movie musical made in the last 10/15 years, the second they open their mouth to sing I start to roll my eyes a little.

People on here have said it before.

Take your point - am aware of the rich history of movie musicals.

I guess I am thinking more of the mega musical era onwards and the difficulty (IMHO) of making decent films out of musicals conceived for the stage in the last 40 or so years!