Adam Shankman Directing Rock of Ages

There seems to be a stigma against musicals amongst the male contingent of movie watchers out there, but with Chicago winning the Best Picture Oscar in 2003, Dreamgirls garnering some award attention a couple years ago, and now "Glee" picking up steam on FOX, perhaps the tides are turning. I'll say it: I enjoy the occasional musical once in a while.

While I did not see Adam Shankman's Hairspray (Travolta in a fat suit? No thanks), it's looking pretty likely that I'll see his next directorial effort - a film adaptation of another Broadway musical, Rock of Ages. The story centers around two people who fall in love at a club on the Sunset Strip and chronicles their attempts to stay together amid various 80's rock anthems. Variety reports that Shankman will direct from a script written by Chris D'Arienzo, the creator of the stage version. Warner Bros. is looking to release the film in 2011, and production is scheduled to begin next summer.

As an 80's rock fan, I nearly salivated after looking up the incredible set list of songs performed on stage; I only hope that they can score the rights to all these songs for the film version. This musical seems poised to shatter typical expectations of the type of audience that usually attends these types of films, and I'm really looking forward to seeing both the movie itself and how it might potentially open the genre up to a new crowd.