Hairspray and Bedtime Stories director Adam Shankman has just signed on to direct and choreograph Rock of Ages, the screen version of the Broadway musical. Shankman is a sound sort (I interviewed him for Bedtime Stories), who had a long and successful career as a dance choreographer, before embarking on a hugely successful series of helming gigs. He's also a sometime judge on the hit American show, So You Think You Can Dance. Shankman told Variety: "I had the best time of my life making 'Hairspray’ and badly wanted another musical, and when I watched 'Rock of Ages,’ I was struck by the fact that not only had much of the audience seen it more than once, every guy in the audience knew the words to the songs," before adding: "I thought, 'this is 'Mamma Mia!’ for dudes. What an extraordinary opportunity to open the genre to an audience that otherwise wouldn’t go see a musical." A musical for men!? That's just crazy enough to work... or maybe not.
