Adam Shankman talks 'Hairspray' sequel | Movie Biz | Hollywood Insider | EW.com
Nov 26, 2008, 04:00 PM | by Lindsay Soll

Categories: Movie Biz

Poof up your pompadours and put on your dancing shoes: Last year's musical hit Hairspray is one bop closer toward a sequel. "We just got an outline and some ideas from John Waters, and now we're going out to writers," director Adam Shankman tells EW exclusively. The story will follow Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) and her pals as they navigate the "next era of music," the late '60s. "That period was superpolitical," Shankman adds, "it was a time of serious change." No kidding: According to the filmmaker, heartthrob Link (Zac Efron) will channel his inner Austin Powers and become steeped in the British Invasion. "We're trying to track, in a comedic way, the historical elements."

HAIRSPRAY - BLONSKY SET FOR BETTY

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HAIRSPRAY star NIKKI BLONSKY has been handed an early 20th birthday treat - a starring role in hit TV show UGLY BETTY.
The actress, who turns 20 this weekend (09Nov08), will play an assistant at fashion bible Elle, who befriends the show's title character.
Blonsky has only signed on for one episode, but producers insist there could be more.
Blonsky joins Lindsay Lohan, Victoria Beckham, Naomi Campbell and Lucy Liu, who have all guested on the hit series.

Photo Coverage: 'The Broadway Workshop' with HAIRSPRAY Film Star Nikki Blonsky!

The Broadway Workshop, Manhattan’s fastest growing acting program for young artists, teamed up with Golden Globe nominated TV and movie star Nikki Blonsky, for its one day 'Hairspray' musical workshop. THE HAIRSPRAY WORKSHOP, took place on November 1, 2008 in New York City. This Workshop gave students the opportunity to work on every area of musical theater performance.

The class focused on giving young actors the tools necessary to help them stand out from the crowd. Students worked on Song Interpretation, musical theatre audition technique and a dance combination from the Broadway production of HAIRSPRAY. Students also got to participate in a Q & A with Miss Blonsky.

“I am so excited to work with The Broadway Workshop’s students”, said Blonsky on teaching the one day class.

At the age of 17 Nikki Blonsky shot to stardom playing Tracy Turnblad opposite John Travolta in the hit movie musical HAIRSPRAY. Since HAIRSPRAY, she has starred in the Lifetime movie QUEEN SIZED and in the film HAROLD. Nikki was born and raised in Great Neck, Long Island, New York. Nikki received her dramatic and musical training at Great Neck South High School, which is a four time Grammy Foundation Signature School. Some of Nikki’s high school credits include Madame Tanardeau in LES MISERABLES, Mrs. Lovett in SWEENY TODD, Kate in KISS ME KATE, Rebecca Hillicker in THE LARAMIE PROJECT and the title role in Bizet’s CARMEN....

Lights, Camera, Ogden! / Historic 25th Street fits the bill for 'Waiting for Forever' producer Trevor Albert

Friday, October 3, 2008
By Nancy Van Valkenburg
Standard-Examiner Staff


OGDEN -- Ogden's Historic 25th Street stars once again as small-town America in a feature film, "Waiting for Forever," which completed a multiday shoot in the city on Thursday.

The romantic film is directed by James Keach, who also shot "Blind Dating" (2006) here.

"That's not why we chose Ogden, though," said "Waiting for Forever" producer Trevor Albert, whose other producing credits include "Because of Winn-Dixie," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "Groundhog Day."

"We drove all over looking for the quintessential small town, and 25th Street really fits the bill," Albert said.

The film stars Tom Sturridge ("Like Minds") as Will, a free-spirited street performer who wants to reconnect with Emma, a girl who was his best friend and first love when both were 7. Will was orphaned shortly after, and raised elsewhere. Adult Emma, now a television actress, is played by Rachel Bilson ("The O.C.," "Jumper").

"Will learns that Emma's father is sick and she is going back to her hometown to see him," Albert said. "Will decides to go back to the town where he lost his girlfriend and find her again."

The small town is never named, nor is the state. It gives the story a fairy tale-like quality, Albert said.

Shots filmed in Ogden include Will being dropped off by a couple who picked him up when he was hitchhiking; Will whooping and hollering as he races into a bank to greet his conservative businessman brother; and Will "accidentally" running into Emma as she walks down the street.

"She's amazed at the coincidence of running into him after so many years," Albert said. "She's trying to figure out just how crazy this guy is and what he is up to. He is reluctant to tell her he is a street performer and was waiting for her."

The body of the story is about how Will, described as a Buster Keaton/Charlie Chaplin type of character, uses his offbeat charms to pursue this woman. It's an off-kilter romance, Albert said.

The shoot moves to the Salt Lake City area today, and lots of the remaining scenes are interiors, Albert said. Also appearing in the film are Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor"), playing Emma's father; Blythe Danner ("Huff," "Meet the Fockers"), playing Emma's mother; and Nikki Blonsky ("Hairspray") as Will's childhood friend, now married to another childhood friend played by Scott Mechlowicz ("Gone," "Peaceful Warrior").

Albert said "Waiting for Forever" will be released in 2009.

Albert has enjoyed the Utah shoot so far.

"The people have been so nice to us," he said. "I love shooting in Utah. I had never done it before. I've shot movies all over the world. The Utah crew is one of the best I have worked with."

Other projects that have shot scenes in the Ogden area include "Everwood," "Touched by an Angel," Disney's "Halloweentown" movies, the TV film "Anya's Bell" and various independent films.

Nikki Blonsky: I Love Zac Efron With Every Inch Of My Body

Nikki Blonsky gave Entertainment Tonight her first interview since her arrest last month. (Nikki’s family had an all-out brawl with former America’s Next Top Model contestant Bianca Golden’s family at a Turks and Caicos airport.)

The 19-year-old actress says her friends and family have been there for her through it all, including her Hairspray castmates: “They have all been extremely supportive. We are a tight-knit family. We’re just happy to be back together. My family is my life. The best gift that I’ve even been given is my parents.”

Nikki says co-star Zac Efron has been a special source of strength for her, “I love him with every inch of my body and soul. He has been an amazing support system.”

Nikki is currently preparing her nightclub debut at Feinstein’s in New York City that will run from September 23rd to October 4th. Her special performance will feature songs from Broadway, the Great American Songbook and pop classics.

John Waters To Pen Sequel to Hairspray Movie Musical
By Andrew Gans
23 Jul 2008

The film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray, which itself was based on the original John Waters film, was such a hit that New Line Cinema has asked Waters to pen a sequel to the movie musical.

Variety reports that the project will reunite Waters with Adam Shankman, who directed and choreographed the film; producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan; and Hairspray songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Shaiman and Wittman will write new songs for the sequel.

No casting has been announced, although Variety reports that New Line hopes to snag much of the original "Hairspray" cast. The "Hairspray" movie musical grossed more than $200 million worldwide, and New Line hopes the sequel will be ready for a mid-July 2010 release by Warner Bros.

The "Hairspray" film cast John Travolta as the frumpy Edna Turnblad with newcomer Nikki Blonsky as daughter Tracy, the energetic teenager who shakes up her Baltimore town. Also in the film were Christopher Walken, Zac Efron, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Marsden, Amanda Bynes, Elijah Kelley and Allison Janney.

Director Shankman told Daily Variety, "I never thought of musicals as franchises, but it certainly worked with 'High School Musical,' and the idea of working with that cast again, and creating new material and music, is a dream come true. John (Waters) has such an original and extraordinary voice; we all can't wait to see what he has come up with."

The sequel will likely pick up where the "Hairspray" film left off, in 1962 Baltimore.