Hairspray Director Adam Shankman to Bring Rock of Ages to Big Screen in 2011

Adam Shankman, the director/choreographer who helped lead the big screen version of the Broadway musical Hairspray to box office gold has signed on for another movie musical: Rock of Ages. Variety reports that the New Line Cinema film will now start production next summer and be released in 2011.

“I had the best time of my life making Hairspray and badly wanted another musical," Shankman told Variety. "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. 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.”

Librettist Chris D'Arienzo was originally announced to write and direct the film, but is apparently now only the film's screenwriter.

Rock of Ages is set in 1987 on the Sunset Strip, where a small town girl meets a big city rocker in L.A.’s most famous rock club. Their arena-rock love story is told through the hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and many more.

The Broadway production of Rock of Ages is directed by Kristin Hanggi and stars 2009 Tony Award nominee Constantine Maroulis as Drew, Kerry Butler as Sherrie, James Carpinello as Stacee Jaxx, Adam Dennheiser as Dennis, Mitchell Jarvis as Lonny, Michele Mais as Justice, Lauren Molina as Regina, Don Stephenson as Hertz and Tom Lenk as Franz.