Producer/Director McG Eyes Feature Film Version of Spring Awakening

McG, director of two Charlie’s Angels movies and the forthcoming Teminator Salvation, is “in talks” to produce and direct a feature film version of the Tony-winning musical Spring Awakening, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He would collaborate with librettist Steven Sater, who shares the movie rights with composer Duncan Sheik and the show’s stage producers.

The project isn’t tied to a particular studio yet. McG's production company has a first-look deal with Warner Bros., but the Reporter speculated that he might forego the studio route in order to make a more intimate or edgier movie version of Spring Awakening. Before finding success as a movie director and producer of teen-oriented TV series such as The O.C., Supernatural and Sorority Forever, McG got his start as a pop songwriter including co-writing the Sugar Ray hit “Fly” and director of music videos.

Based on the Frank Wedekind play, Spring Awakening is a coming-of-age story set in a provincial German town in the 1890s. As the teen characters question their future and explore their sexuality, the story is told through a rock score by Sheik and Sater. The show won eight 2007 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for 859 performances before closing on January 18.

No start date or cast for the feature film version of Spring Awakening has been set.