Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah: Sony Pictures has acquired the movie rights to the Britney Spears–inspired musical Once Upon a One More Time, according to Deadline. The stage version of the show will start on November 23, 2019, in Chicago before its 2020 Broadway debut and features Spears’s classics, such as “Lucky,†“Circus,†“Toxic,†and “Oops … I Did It Again.†Spears is listed as a producer on the film along with her manager Larry Rudolph and Davis Entertainment. Jon Hartmere will write the book for the musical and Kristin Hanggi of Rock of Ages fame will direct.
In Once Upon a One More Time, Snow White, Cinderella, and other always-need-to-be-saved princesses get a lesson in Feminism 101 when a rogue fairy godmother hands them Betty Friedan’s 1960s classic The Feminine Mystique at their book club. No word yet on how the princesses will inevitably tell their princes just how “Toxic†they are. Maybe they’ll whip their men into shape in “Circus� The musical is also likened to Mamma Mia! because of its screen potential. Mamma Mia!’s pop connections to ABBA and Cher are another big similarity. Should we expect a star-studded sequel for Britney’s film as well?
In January, Spears canceled her Las Vegas residency after her father fell ill, and earlier this month she checked herself into a mental-health facility due to emotional distress. She posted on her Instagram that she needed some “me time,†but there are conflicting reports on whether she’s there voluntarily.