Hairspray (2007 film)

Un article de Vev.

Modèle:Otheruses4 Modèle:Otheruses4 Modèle:Infobox Film

Hairspray is a 2007 musical film produced by Zadan/Meron Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the Tony Award-winning 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, itself adapted from John Waters' 1988 comedy film. Set in 1962 Baltimore, the film follows a "pleasantly-plump" teen named Tracy Turnblad as she simultaneously pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation.

Adapted from both Waters' 1988 script and Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell's book for the stage musical by screenwriter Leslie Dixon, the 2007 version of Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman. Hairspray stars John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney, and introduces newcomer Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad. Hairspray features songs from the Broadway musical written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, as well as four new Shaiman/Wittman compositions not present in the Broadway version.

Opening to mostly positive reviews, Hairspray met with financial success, currently holding the record for biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical.<ref name="MojoGray"/> The film went on to become the third highest grossing musical film in U.S. cinema history, behind the film adaptations of Grease and Chicago.<ref name="MusicalMovies"/> Available in a variety of formats, Hairspray's Region 1 home video release took place on November 20, 2007.<ref name="StageToScreens"/> The USA Network has purchased the broadcast rights to Hairspray, and will debut the film on cable television in February 2010.<ref name"Variety"> Dempsey , John

     (2007-10-04)
   
.    USA all lathered up for 'Hairspray' 
. Variety 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-11-19. </ref>

Plot

May 3, 1962 begins the same as every other school day for Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), a "pleasantly plump" high school student from Baltimore, Maryland. She endures a day's worth of boring classes so that she and her best friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes) can race home to catch their favorite TV program, The Corny Collins Show. The program, a teen dance show, is broadcast from Baltimore's station WYZT on weekday afternoons.

Some of the teenagers featured on the show also attend Tracy and Penny's school, in particular snobby rich girl Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her heartthrob boyfriend Link Larkin (Zac Efron), with whom Tracy is madly in love. Amber's mother Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer) manages station WYZT, and goes out of her way to make sure Amber is prominently featured and that Corny Collins remains a segregated program. Corny Collins (James Marsden) and all of his "Council Kids" are white; black kids are only allowed on Corny Collins on "Negro Day", held the last Thursday of each month and hosted by local R&B radio DJ Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah).

Neither Tracy's plus-sized shut-in laundress mother Edna (John Travolta) nor Penny's strict Catholic mother Prudy (Allison Janney) approve of their daughters basing their lives around a TV show, particularly one where teens dance to "race music". Tracy's father Wilbur (Christopher Walken), a joke-shop proprietor, is far more lenient. On one day's show, Corny Collins announces that one of his "Council Kids" is going on a leave of absence, and auditions for a replacement will be held the next morning - during school hours. However, Velma turns Tracy away at the audition for being overweight and supportive of integration. Tracy is sent to detention for skipping school, but finds that detention hall is where the black kids hang out and dance. Tracy befriends the detention hall's best dancer, Motormouth Maybelle's son Seaweed (Elijah Kelley), who teaches Tracy several R&B dance moves. These moves secure Tracy a spot on The Corny Collins Show.

Tracy quickly becomes one of Corny's most popular Council Kids and a threat to Velma's quest to have Amber win the show's yearly "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant. In addition, Tracy also becomes a threat to Amber's courtship with Link, as he becomes increasingly fond of Tracy and less so of Amber. Tracy's popularity earns her a sponsorship offer from clothes salesman Mr. Pinky (Jerry Stiller), who wants Tracy to be the spokesgirl for his "Hefty Hideaway" boutique for plus-sized women. Tracy convinces Edna to accompany her to the Hefty Hideaway and act as her negotiating agent, and in the process brings her mother's days as an agoraphobe to an end.

At school, Tracy eventually introduces Seaweed to Penny, and the two are instantly smitten with each other. One afternoon after Amber deliberately gets Tracy sent to detention, Link gets himself deliberately sent there in support of her. There Seaweed invites the girls and Link to follow him and his sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks) to a platter party at Motormouth Maybelle's record shop. At the party, Maybelle informs everyone that Velma has canceled Negro Day. Tracy suggests that Maybelle and the others stage a protest march, which they plan for the next afternoon, a day before the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant. Link, scheduled to sing at the pageant and worried about his budding career, backs out of the demonstration and accidentally offends Tracy in the process.

The next morning, Tracy sneaks out of the house to join the protest march, which comes to a halt at a police roadblock set up by Velma. The entire company of protesters is arrested, although Tracy manages to escape. She flees to the Pingletons' house, where Penny lets her hide out in a basement fallout shelter. However, Prudy discovers Tracy and calls the police, tying Penny to her bed upstairs with a jump rope. Seaweed and a few of the other detention kids (having been bailed out by Wilbur) arrive and help Tracy and Penny escape, and the kids concoct a plan to crash the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant. Meanwhile, Link visits Tracy's house in order to look for her, and realizes that he is as much in love with her as she is with him. Seaweed and Penny also acknowledge their love during the escape from her house.

With the pageant underway, Velma, leaving nothing to chance, places policemen around and inside station WYZT in order to prevent Tracy from entering. In addition, Velma switches the tallies from the pageant's phone lines so that Amber is guaranteed to win. Penny arrives at the pageant with an incognito Edna, while Wilbur, Seaweed, and the Detention Kids help Tracy sneak past the police and into the studio in time to participate in the Miss Teenage Hairspray dance-off. Link breaks away from Amber to dance with Tracy; then he pulls Inez, who has just arrived at WYZT with Maybelle, to the stage to dance for the pageant.

Against all expectations, Inez receives the most votes and wins the pageant, officially integrating The Corny Collins Show. A perturbed Velma loudly declares her frustration, informing her daughter of the tally-switching scheme. Unknown to Velma, Edna has turned a camera on her, and Velma's outburst is broadcast live on the air, getting her fired. Meanwhile, The Corny Collins Show set explodes into a celebration as Link and Tracy cement their love with a kiss.

Cast

• Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad
• John Travolta as Edna Turnblad
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle
• Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad
• Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton
• James Marsden as Corny Collins
• Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle
• Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle
• Zac Efron as Link Larkin
• Elijah Kelley as Seaweed J. Stubbs
• Allison Janney as Prudy Pingleton
• Paul Dooley as Mr. Spritzer
• Taylor Parks as Little Inez Stubbs

Cameos

• Jerry Stiller as Mr. Pinky (Wilbur Turnblad in the original film)
• Ricki Lake as William Morris Talent Agent #1 (Tracy Turnblad in the original film)
• Adam Shankman as William Morris Talent Agent #2 (choreographer and director of the film)
• Marc Shaiman as William Morris Talent Agent #3 (co-lyricist and music writer of the film)
• Scott Wittman as William Morris Talent Agent #4 (co-lyricist and music writer of the film)
• John Waters as the flasher who lives next door (the writer and director of the original film, also made a cameo in the original film as Penny's insane psychiatrist Dr. Fredrikson)
• Mink Stole as smoking woman on the street whom Waters flashes (Tammy in the original film)
• Corey Reynolds (Audio only) as singer of "Trouble on the Line" (original Broadway cast's Seaweed)
• Harvey Fierstein (Audio only) as brief singing cameo in the end credits "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" (original Broadway cast's Edna)

Production

Early development

Following the success of the Broadway musical Hairspray, which won eight Tony Awards in 2003, New Line Cinema, who owned the rights to the 1988 John Waters film upon which the stage musical is based, became interested in adapting the stage show as a musical film. Development work began in late 2004, while a similar film-to-Broadway-to-film project, Mel Brooks' The Producers, was in production.<ref name="EarlyDev"> Mohr , Ian

     (March 2007)
   
.    Casting looms for New Line's younger-skewing 'Hairspray'. 
. Daily Variety 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref>

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron's Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago, were hired as the producers for Hairspray,<ref name="TimeWarner">"

   Craig Zadan and Neil Meron Signed to Produce New Line Cinema’s Musical Film Version of Hairspray 
     
 " , Time Warner
  , 2004-11-29
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-20
 . </ref> and began discussing possibly casting John Travolta and Billy Crystal (or Jim Broadbent) as Edna and Wilbur Turnblad, respectively.<ref name="EarlyDev"/> Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell, authors of the book for the stage musical, wrote the first draft of the film's screenplay, but were replaced by Leslie Dixon, screenwriter for family comedies such as Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Freaky Friday (2003).<ref name="EarlyDev"/> After a year's deliberation on who should direct the film, Zadan and Meron finally decided to hire Adam Shankman to both direct and choreograph Hairspray.<ref name="Shankman2">   Shankman , Adam 
     
 

     (2007-07-11)
   
.    The Director's Chair: Adam Shankman's Hairspray Diary #2 
. BroadwayWorld.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref> Upon learning he had been hired, Shankman arranged a meeting with John Waters, who advised him "don't do what I did, don't do what the play did. You've gotta do your own thing."<ref name="Fresh Air"> NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross

. National Public Radio 
 
 (2007-07-19)
   

. Retrieved on 2007-07-29. </ref> Despite this, Shankman still noted "all roads of Hairspray lead back to John Waters."<ref name="Fresh Air"/>

(Screen to) stage to screen changes

Dixon was primarily hired to tone down much of the campiness inherent in the stage musical.<ref name="ScriptMag">Verini, Bob (July/August 2007). "Miss Beehive-ing: Leslie Dixon styles Hairspray for the Big Screen." Script. Pgs. 60-66</ref> The 2007 film's script is based primarily on the stage musical rather than the 1988 film, so several changes already made to the plot for the stage version remain in this version. These include dropping several characters from the 1988 version (such as Arvin Hodgepile, Franklin Von Tussle, Tammy Turner, the beatniks, etc.), removing the Tilted Acres amusement park from the story, and placing Velma in charge of the station where The Corny Collins Show is filmed.

One notable difference between the stage musical, the original movie, and the 2007 film version of Hairspray is that Tracy does not go to jail in the 2007 version. In both previous incarnations of Hairspray, Tracy is arrested and taken to jail along with the other protesters. Edna is presented in this version as an insecure introvert, in contrast to the relatively bolder incarnations present in the 1988 film and the stage musical.<ref name="ScriptMag"/> Among many other elements changed or added to this version are the removal of Motormouth Maybelle's habit of constantly speaking in rhyming jive talk, and doubling the number of teens in Corny Collins' council (from ten on Broadway to twenty in the 2007 film).

Dixon restructured portions of Hairspray's book to allow several of the songs to blend more naturally into the plot, in particular "(You're) Timeless to Me" and "I Know Where I've Been". "Timeless" becomes the anchor of a newly invented subplot involving Velma's attempt to break up Tracy's parents' marriage and keep the girl off Corny Collins as a result. The song now serves as Wilbur's apology to Edna, in addition to its original purpose in the stage musical as a tongue-in-cheek declaration of Wilbur and Edna's love for each other.<ref name="ScriptMag"/> Meanwhile, "I Know Where I've Been", instead of being sung by Maybelle alone after being let out of jail, now underscores Maybelle's march on WYZT (which takes place in the stage musical only briefly during "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful").<ref name="ScriptMag"/>

The song "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful" was inspired by a line that Tracy Turnblad delivered in the original film, but in the stage version and this film, the song is performed by Motormouth Maybelle. A reprise of the song was added to the 2007 film, which is sung by Edna Turnblad and Velma Von Tussle.

Pre-production and casting

Hairspray was produced on a budget of $75 million.<ref name="budget"> Marr , Merissa

  . 
 "
   At 20, ‘Hairspray’ Gets a Third ‘Do. 
     
 " , Hollywood Report
  , 2007-05-25
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-05-28
 . </ref>

An open casting call was announced to cast unknowns in Atlanta, New York City, and Chicago. After auditioning over eleven hundred candidates, Nikki Blonsky, an 18-year-old high school senior from Great Neck, New York who had no previous professional acting experience, was chosen for the lead role of Tracy. Relative unknowns Elijah Kelley and Taylor Parks were chosen through similar audition contests to portray Seaweed and Little Inez, respectively. Travolta was finally cast as Edna, although Crystal's role was instead assumed by Christopher Walken. Several other stars, including Queen Latifah, James Marsden, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Allison Janney were chosen for the other supporting adult roles of Motormouth Maybelle, Corny Collins, Velma Von Tussle, and Prudy Pingleton, respectively. Teen stars Amanda Bynes, and Zac Efron were cast as Tracy's friends Penny and Link, and Brittany Snow was cast as her rival Amber. Jerry Stiller, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original film version of Hairspray, appears as Mr. Pinky in this version.

Since Hairspray's plot focuses heavily on dance, choreography became a heavy focus for Shankman, who hired four assistant choreographers and put both his acting cast and over a hundred fifty dancers through two months of rehearsals.<ref name="Shankman11"> Shankman , Adam

     (2007-07-21)
   
.    The Director's Chair: Adam Shankman's Hairspray Diary #11 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref><ref name="Shankman13"> Shankman , Adam

     (2007-07-21)
   
.    The Director's Chair: Adam Shankman's Hairspray Diary #13 
. BroadwayWorld.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref> The cast recorded the vocal tracks for their songs in the weeks just before principal photography began in September.<ref name="Shankman11"/>

Principal photography

Principal photography on Hairspray took place in Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from September 5 to December 8, 2006,<ref name="Canada"> Kennedy , John

     (2006-06-21)
   
.    Summer of stars 
. Canada.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2006-06-25. </ref> Hairspray is explicitly set in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and the original 1988 film had been shot on location there, but the 2007 film was shot primarily in Toronto because the city was better equipped with the sound stages necessary to film a musical.<ref name="Shankman discusses production location"> Interview with director Adam Shankman on WBAL-TV Baltimore (at 4:16)

. YouTube  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-02. </ref> Some second-unit footage was indeed shot in Baltimore.

The majority of the film was shot at Toronto's Showline Studios<ref name="Shankman12"> Shankman , Adam

     (2007-07-21)
   
.    The Director's Chair: Adam Shankman's Hairspray Diary #12 
. BroadwayWorld.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref> Most of the street scenes were shot at the intersection of Dundas Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue. Some of the signs for the 1960s-era stores remain up along the street. Toronto's Lord Lansdowne Public School was used for all of the high school exteriors and some of the interiors, while the old Queen Victoria School in Hamilton was also used for interiors. Scenes at Queen Victoria were shot from November 22 to December 2, and the school was scheduled to be demolished after film production was completed.

Thinner than most of the other men who have portrayed Edna, John Travolta appears onscreen in a large fat suit, and required four hours of makeup in order to appear before the cameras.<ref name="Travolta"> Green , Jesse

  . 
 "
   Seeking His Inner Her, Size XXXL 
     
 " , The New York Times
  , 2007-07-15
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-02
 . </ref> His character's nimble dancing style belies her girth; Shankman based Edna's dancing style on the hippo ballerinas in the Dance of the Hours sequence in Walt Disney's 1940 animated feature Fantasia.<ref name="Fresh Air"/> Travolta fought for the ability to give his character curves, as opposed to a dumpier figure, and a thick Baltimore accent.<ref name="Travolta"/>

Shankman's inspirations

Shankman included "a lot of winks" to films that influenced his work on Hairspray:<ref name="Fresh Air"/>

• For example, the film's opening shot - a bird's eye view of Baltimore that eventually descends from the clouds to ground level - is a combination of the opening shots of West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965).<ref name="Fresh Air"/>
• Several scenes involving Tracy, such as her ride atop the garbage truck during the "Good Morning Baltimore" number and her new hairstyle during "Welcome to the '60s", are directly inspired by the Barbra Streisand musical film version of Funny Girl (196Image:Cool.gif.<ref name="Fresh Air"/>
• During "Without Love", Link sings to a photograph of Tracy, which comes to life and sings harmony with him. This is directly inspired from the MGM musical The Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), in which a young Judy Garland swoons over a photo of actor Clark Gable as she sings "You Made Me Love You".<ref name="Fresh Air"/>

Music

See also Hairspray (2007 soundtrack)

Musical numbers

1. "Good Morning Baltimore" - Tracy (Nikki Blonsky)
2. "The Nicest Kids in Town" - Corny and Council Members (James Marsden, Zac Efron, Brittany Snow and others)
3. "It Takes Two" - Link (Zac Efron)
4. "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs" - Velma and Council Members (Michelle Pfeiffer, Nikki Blonsky, Brittany Snow and Zac Efron)
5. "I Can Hear the Bells" - Tracy (Nikki Blonsky)
6. "Ladies' Choice" - Link (Zac Efron)
7. "The Nicest Kids in Town (Reprise)" - Corny and Council Members (James Marsden, Zac Efron, Brittany Snow, Nikki Blonsky and others)
8. "The New Girl in Town" - Amber, Tammy, Shelley, and The Dynamites (Brittany Snow and others)
9. "Welcome to the 60's" - Tracy, Edna, The Dynamites, and Hefty Hideaway Customers (Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta and others)
10. "Run and Tell That" - Seaweed, Little Inez, and Detention Kids (Elijah Kelley, Taylor Parks and others)
11. "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" - Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah)
12. "Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)" - Edna and Velma (John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer)
13. "(You're) Timeless to Me" - Edna and Wilbur (John Travolta and Christopher Walken)
14. "I Know Where I've Been" - Motormouth Maybelle with Nadine and Chorus (Queen Latifah and others)
15. "I Can Wait" - Tracy (Nikki Blonsky) (deleted scene on DVD)
16. "Without Love" - Link, Tracy, Seaweed, and Penny (Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky, Elijah Kelley and Amanda Bynes)
17. "(It's) Hairspray" - Corny and Council Members (James Marsden, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron and others)
18. "You Can't Stop the Beat" - Tracy, Link, Penny, Seaweed, Edna, Motormouth Maybelle, and Company (Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Elijah Kelley, John Travolta, Queen Latifah and others)

End credits songs

1. "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" - Tracy, Link, Motormouth Maybelle, and Seaweed (Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, Queen Latifah and Elijah Kelley)
2. "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" - Ricki Lake, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Nikki Blonsky
3. "Cooties" - Aimee Allen

Song score production and changes

Music producer/composer/co-lyricist Marc Shaiman and co-lyricist Scott Wittman were required to alter their Broadway Hairspray song score in various ways in order to work on film, from changing portions of the lyrics in some songs (e.g. "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs", "Big, Blonde and Beautiful", and "You Can't Stop the Beat") to more or less completely removing other songs from the film altogether.

"Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a popular number from the stage musical, features Tracy, Penny, and Amber arguing with their respective mothers. Neither Adam Shankman nor Leslie Dixon could come up with a solution for filming "Mama" that did not require a three-way split screen - something they wanted to avoid<ref name="ScriptMag"/> - and both felt the number did not adequately advance the plot.<ref name="ScriptMag"/><ref name="Shankman3"> Shankman , Adam

     (2007-07-21)
   
.    The Director's Chair: Adam Shankman's Hairspray Diary #3 
. BroadwayWorld.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref> As a result, "Mama" was reluctantly dropped from the film during pre-production, although it is used by Shaiman as an instrumental when the Corny Collins kids dance the "Stricken Chicken". A special version of "Mama" was recorded for the film's end credits in May 2007, during the final score recording process, which featured vocals from each of the three women most famous for portraying Tracy Turnblad: Ricki Lake from the 1988 film, Marissa Jaret Winokur from the original Broadway cast, and Nikki Blonsky from the 2007 film.<ref name="Orchestra"> Burlingame , Jon

  . 
 "
   You Can't Stop The Beat: Shaiman's unrivaled songwriting talent is outed by Hairspray colleagues 
     
 " , The Film Music Society
  , 2007-07-11
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-20
 . </ref> Harvey Fierstein, who portrayed Edna as part of the original Broadway cast, has a brief cameo moment in the end credits version of "Mama" as well.<ref name="Orchestra"/>

"It Takes Two", a solo for Link, was moved from its place in the stage musical (on Tracy's first day on Corny's Council) to an earlier Corny Collins scene, although only the coda of the song is used in the final release print. "Cooties", a solo for Amber in the stage musical, is present in this film as an instrumental during the Miss Teenage Hairspray dance-off. As with "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a version of "Cooties", performed in a contemporary pop rendition by Aimee Allen, is present during the end credits.

The performance of a vintage dance called The Madison, present in both the 1988 film and the stage musical, was replaced for this version by a newly composed song, "Ladies' Choice". Portions of the Madison dance steps were integrated into the choreography for the musical number "You Can't Stop the Beat", and the song the dance is performed to on Broadway can be heard faintly during Motormouth Maybelle's platter party in the film, retitled "Boink-Boink". "The Big Dollhouse" was the only song from the musical not used in the film in any way.

Shaiman and Wittman composed two new songs for the 2007 film: "Ladies' Choice", a solo for Link, and "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)", a song performed during the end credits by Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, and Elijah Kelley. Another "new" song in the 2007 film, "The New Girl in Town", had originally been composed for the Broadway musical, but was deemed unnecessary and discarded from the musical. Director Adam Shankman decided to use the song to both underscore a rise-to-fame montage for Tracy and to showcase Maybelle's "Negro Day", which is never actually seen in either of the earlier incarnations of Hairspray.<ref>Shankman, Adam (2007). Hairspray: Soundtrack to the Motion Picture [Liner notes]. New York: New Line Records.</ref>

One additional Shaiman/Wittman song, a ballad entitled "I Can Wait", was composed for the film as a solo for Tracy, meant to replace the stage musical's reprise of "Good Morning Baltimore". "I Can Wait" was shot for the film (Tracy performs the number while locked in Prudy's basement), but was eventually deleted from the final release print. The audio recording of "I Can Wait" was made available as a special bonus track for customers who pre-ordered the Hairspray soundtrack on iTunes, and the scene itself will be included as a special feature on the film's DVD release.<ref name="Shankman19"> Shankman , Adam

     (2007-08-07)
   
.    The Director's Chair: Adam Shankman's Hairspray Diary #19 
. BroadwayWorld.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref>

Post-production took place in Los Angeles. Composer/co-lyricist Marc Shaiman continued work on the film's music, employing the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra to record instrumentation for both the songs and the incidental score.<ref name="Orchestra"/>

Release and reception

Box office reception

Hairspray debuted in 3,121 theatres in North America on July 20, 2007, the widest debut of any modern movie musical.<ref name="FantasyMoguls"> Mason , Steve

     (2007-07-19)
   
.    Weekly Tracking: 'Chuck & Larry' likely 2nd to 'Potter' w/$35M+; 'Hairspray' w/widest opening in modern history for a musical, but is New Line opening too wide? 
. FantasyMoguls.com. 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref> The film earned $27,476,745 in its opening weekend, behind I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.<ref name="mojo"/> This makes Hairspray the record-holder for the biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical.<ref name="MojoGray"> Gray , Brandon

     (2007-07-23)
   
.    'Chuck & Larry' Can't Stop 'Hairspray' Sheen 
. Box Office Mojo 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref> The film has since gone on to become the third largest grossing musical in U.S. cinema history, surpassing The Rocky Horror Picture Show ($112.8 million) and Dreamgirls ($103 million), released seven months prior.<ref name="MusicalMovies"> Musical Movies

. Box Office Mojo  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref> Ending its domestic run on October 25, 2007, Hairspray has a total gross of $118,871,849 in the U.S., and $200,126,852 worldwide. This makes it only the third musical in history to cross $200 million internationally, behind 1978's phenomenal hit Grease ($395 million) and 2002's Chicago ($307 million).<ref name="mojo"/> As of December 252007, it is the fourth highest-grossing PG-rated film of 2007, and has grossed more than other higher-budgeted summer releases like Ocean's Thirteen ($117 million) and Evan Almighty ($100 million).<ref name="2007PG"> 2007 Yearly Box Office for PG Rated Movies

. Box Office Mojo  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref>

Two weeks after its original release, new "sing-along" prints of Hairspray were shipped to theaters.<ref> Hernandex , Ernio

  . 
 "
   Blonsky and Kelly Screen Sing-Along "Hairspray" in NYC Aug. 1; Hits Theaters Aug. 3 
     
 " , Playbill
  , 2007-07-31
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-20
 . </ref> These prints featured the lyrics to each song printed onscreen as subtitles, encouraging audiences to interact with the film.

Critical reviews

Hairspray has garnered mostly positive reviews from film critics such as Roger Ebert, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe, as well as a smaller number of reviews comparing it unfavorably to the Waters original. The film is one of the top picks on Metacritic as of November 2007, with an average of 81%.<ref> Hairspray (2007): Reviews

. Metacritic  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref> It scored a 93% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, also indicating excellent reviews,<ref> Hairspray

. Rotten Tomatoes  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref> making it, as of November, one of 2007's top twenty best-reviewed films.<ref> Top Movies: Best of Rotten Tomatoes

. Rotten Tomatoes  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref>

Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying that there was "a lot of craft and slyness lurking beneath the circa-1960s goofiness," also stating that "The point, however, is not the plot but the energy. Without somebody like Nikki Blonsky at the heart of the movie, it might fall flat, but everybody works at her level of happiness..."<ref name="Ebert"> Ebert , Roger

     (2007-07-20)
   
.    Hairspray 
. RogerEbert.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref> Ebert also noted that this film is "a little more innocent than Waters would have made it..."<ref name="Ebert"/> Lou Lumenick of The New York Post hailed Hairspray as "The best and most entertaining movie adaptation of a stage musical so far this century - and yes, I’m including the Oscar-winning Chicago," calling it "one of the best-cast movies in recent memory..."<ref> Lumenick , Lou

  . 
 "
   Tons of Fun: Star-studded Musical Large and in Charge 
     
 " , New York Post
  , 2007-07-17
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-26
 . </ref> New York Daily News critic Jack Matthews called the film "A great big sloppy kiss of entertainment for audiences weary of explosions, CGI effects and sequels, sequels, sequels."<ref>   Matthews , Jack 
       
   
  . 
 "
   'Hair' do... 
     
 " , New York Daily News
  , 2007-07-22
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-26
 . </ref> The Baltimore Sun review offered Michael Sragow's opinion that "in its entirety, Hairspray has the funny tilt that only a director-choreographer like Shankman can give to a movie," pointing out that Shankman skillfully "puts a new-millennial zing behind exact re-creations of delirious period dances like the Mashed Potato."<ref>   Sragow , Michael 
       
   
  . 
 "
   'Hair' apparent 
     
 " , The Baltimore Sun
  , 2007-07-20
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-26
 . </ref> Dana Stevens from Slate called Hairspray "intermittently tasty, if a little too frantically eager to please."<ref name="Slate">   Stevens , Dana 
     
 

     (2007-07-19)
   
.    Not a Drag: John Travolta in Hairspray 
. Slate 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref> Stevens noted that "Despite its wholesomeness, this version stays remarkably true to the spirit of the original, with one size-60 exception: John Travolta as Edna Turnblad," saying "How you feel about Hairspray will depend entirely on your reaction to this performance..."<ref name="Slate"/>

The New Yorker’s David Denby felt the new version of Hairspray was "perfectly pleasant," but compared unfavorably to the Broadway musical, since "[director Adam Shankman and screenwriter Leslie Dixon] have removed the traces of camp humor and Broadway blue that gave the stage show its happily knowing flavor."<ref name="DavidDenby"> Denby , David

  . 
 "
   Hairspray 
     
 " , The New Yorker
  , 2007-07-30
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-26
 . </ref>  Denby criticized the dance numbers, calling them "unimaginatively shot," and he considered "the idea of substituting John Travolta for Harvey Fierstein as Tracy’s hefty mother... a blandly earnest betrayal."<ref name="DavidDenby"/> Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com found Hairspray "reasonably entertaining. But do we really need to be entertained reasonably? Waters's original was a crazy sprawl that made perfect sense; this Hairspray toils needlessly to make sense of that craziness, and something gets lost in the translation."<ref name="Zacharek">   Zacharek , Stephanie 
     
 

     (2007-07-20)
   
.    "Hairspray" 
. Salon.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref> Zacharek was also displeased with the way Latifah's performance of "I Know Where I've Been" was incorporated into the movie, saying "The filmmakers may believe they're adding an extra layer of seriousness to the material... [but] the inclusion of this big production number only suggests that the filmmakers fear the audience won't get the movie's message unless it's spelled out for them."<ref name="Zacharek"/>

Washington Blade boycott controversy

Although it was generally received well by both critics and the box office, Hairspray nonetheless garnered some criticism upon its release by individuals in the gay community. Much of this criticism surrounded Travolta's portrayal of Edna Turnblad, a role played in the original film by celebrated drag performer Divine, and in the stage adaptation by Harvey Fierstein. Kevin Naff, a managing editor for Washington, DC/Baltimore area online gay news site The Washington Blade called for a boycott of the new Hairspray film, alleging that Scientology, in which Travolta believes, was patently homophobic, and allegedly supported workshops designed to "cure" homosexuals.<ref name="Boycott"> Walls , Jeannette

  . 
 "
   Travolta says Hairspray isn't a gay film 
     
 " , MSNBC
  , 2007-07-03
 
  . Retrieved on 2007-08-20
 . </ref> Adam Shankman protested Naff's proposed boycott, stating that Travolta was not homophobic, as he (Shankman), Waters, Shainman & Wittman, and several other members of the creative staff were gay, and Travolta got along well with the entire crew.<ref name="ShankmanOnBoycott">   Shankman Blasts Proposed Hairspray Boycott 
. Hollywood.com 
 
 (2007-07-16)
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. </ref> "John's personal beliefs did not walk onto my set," said Shankman. "I never heard the word 'Scientology.'"<ref name="ShankmanOnBoycott"/>

Home video release

Hairspray was released in standard DVD and high-definition Blu-Ray formats in Region 1 on November 20, 2007.<ref name="StageToScreens"> Buckley , Michael

     (2007-11-18)
   
.    Stage To Screens: Menken & Schwartz Are "Enchanted"; Plus Bosco, Chenoweth, "Hairspray" 
. Playbill 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-11-18. </ref> The standard DVD was released in two versions: a one-disc release and a two-disc "Shake and Shimmy" edition.

Bonus features on the two-disc release include two audio commentaries, a feature-length production documentary, featurettes on the earlier versions of Hairspray, dance instruction featurettes, deleted scenes including Tracy's deleted song "I Can Wait", and behind-the-scenes looks at the production of each of the film's dance numbers. The Blu-Ray release, a two-disc release, includes all of the features from the two-disc DVD, and includes a picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes feature, which runs concurrently with the film. An HD DVD edition of the film, with features similar to the Blu-Ray disc, is due in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Following is a list of awards that Hairspray or its cast have won or been nominated for.<ref name="awards1"> Awards for Hairspray (2007)

. Internet Movie Database  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref><ref name="awards2"> Hairspray awarded by Hollywood Film Festival

. HairsprayMovie.com 
 
 (2007-08-07)
   

. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. </ref><ref name="GlobeNoms"> 2007 Golden Globe Nominations

. Awards Daily's Oscar Watch 
 
 (2007-12-13)
   

. Retrieved on 2007-12-13. </ref>

. goldenglobes.org 
 
 (2007-12-13)
   

See also

• Cross-dressing in film and television

References

External links

Modèle:Wikiquote

• Official site
• Hairspray at the Internet Movie Database
• Modèle:Amg title
• Modèle:Rotten-tomatoesda:Hairspray (2007)

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