'A Few Good Men' will be adapted as live production by NBC
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
A new live production is coming to NBC, but this one won鈥檛 have a lot of razzle-dazzle.
The network is planning to broadcast a live show of the play 鈥淎 Few Good Men,鈥� which was written by Aaron Sorking and was the basis for the acclaimed 1992 movie starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson.聽
The program debuted on Broadway in 1989 and actor Tom Hulce earned a nomination for the best actor in a play Tony Award for the production written by Sorkin.
Now Sorkin will be adapting the story for TV and producing the show along with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, who were executive producers for NBC鈥檚 previous live shows, including 2015鈥檚 鈥淭he Wiz Live!鈥�
The program is set to air next year.
The past several months have for the most part been particularly good ones for the live TV production. Both 鈥淭he Wiz Live!鈥� on NBC and Fox鈥檚 鈥淕rease: Live鈥� were both well-received by critics and did well in the ratings. None have yet beaten NBC鈥檚 first recent foray into the genre, 2013鈥檚 鈥淭he Sound of Music Live!,鈥� in the ratings, but 鈥淕rease鈥� did even better in the ratings than 鈥淲iz!,鈥� so multiple networks have tried this and had it work.聽
Will 鈥淔ew鈥� find the same success?聽
There was certainly interest in the movie when it was released. 鈥淔ew鈥� became the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year, beating out other successes such as 鈥淪ister Act鈥� and 鈥淎 League of Their Own.鈥澛�
In addition, the positive ratings for 鈥淲iz鈥� and 鈥淕rease,鈥� two of the newest live productions, show that interest hasn鈥檛 waned in live productions.聽
However, Fox also recently aired a partially live production, 鈥淭he Passion,鈥� earlier this month. Ratings for 鈥淧assion鈥� were far below that of 鈥淕rease.鈥� Making a production (somewhat) live doesn鈥檛 guarantee success.聽
If TV viewers still remember the movie fondly, 鈥淔ew鈥� could draw viewers curious to see how a new version will be adapted.
