Little Shop Of Horrors Remake Taking Root At Warner Bros.

Looks like there will be an Audry III, as news emerges that Warner Bros. has greenlit a do-over of Little Shop of Horrors. This would be the third film adaptation, stemming from Roger Corman’s original black and white 1960 version featuring a very new to acting Jack Nicholson.

It became a stage musical in 1982 by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, leading up to the second film incarnation in 1986 directed by Frank Oz and starring Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene. That version became a classic favorite and has enjoyed a healthy VHS and DVD afterlife ever since.

This time around we have Greg Berlanti directing and relative newcomer Matthew Robinson writing. Berlanti has piles of production credits under his belt ranging from Dawson’s Creek to the various CW Superhero series, but only two middling prior feature film credits as a director, the most recent of which being 2010’s Life as we Know It.

As with all reboots, there really should be something new to say if they’re going to tackle it at all. This is also different than most films, because the stage musical continues to be performed on a regular basis by touring and regional theater companies, so it’s not like the audience isn’t familiar with the film and it needed to find a new base.

Studio bravery being at a near all-time low with regards to developing new properties, it seems this must have been someone’s idea of “oh, people won’t remember this one, let’s do this again.” And so here we go again, remaking a film that still stands fine to day, with humor and music still resounding with audiences.

Now the only question will they go with the darker stage play ending, or go with the happier ’86 ending.