Surfin’ Into the Cinemas: Beach Boys Musical

Break out the surfboard wax: 20th Century Fox has won the bidding for the story and music rights to a musical featuring the songs of the Beach Boys.

The film will not be about the group itself — rather, the plans are for the film to follow the tradition of Across the Universe and Mama Mia, meaning that the story will feature original characters and be set in the beach culture of 1960s California. The idea was pitched by Susannah Grant, who has more-or-less written “chick flicks” throughout her career, but one of the producers is John Stamos — who has actually been a pseudo-member of the group and close friends with the band.

This could be good — Across the Universe did a great job with weaving the Beatles songs into a narrative (although I could’ve went without some of the awkward puns). I’m assuming that the bulk of the movie’s songs will be from the band’s fun-loving early era, and not from the more mature compositions and themes that songwriter Brian Wilson tackled during the late 60s. Still, I’d like to see how the movie would incorporate some of Wilson’s darker masterpieces into a film that’s probably going to maintain an overall spirit of fun and Americana nostalgia.

Any particular songs you’d like to hear in the film? Let us know below!