The Color Purple

• The findings of the 2023 ReFrame Report, which examines hiring across key roles on all 100 films based on IMDbPro data, can be viewed HERE .
• (Graphic: Business Wire)
  Since 2020, the number of films in the annual Top 100 that qualify for the ReFrame Stamp has not increased.
• 29 of the analyzed films were exclusively released to streaming services, and 11 of these earned the Stamp (37.9%).
• To award the Stamp, ReFrame reviews cast and crew data for all eligible films on the IMDbPro list of the 100 most popular films of 2023.

• However, many cinema-goers would have been surprised to find these were musicals at all, considering the lack of any such suggestion in their marketing.
• Their slogans read “discover how Willy became Wonka”, “a bold new take on a beloved classic” and “not your mother’s Mean Girls”.
• Each indicates originality and change without specifying that the change in question is musical.

Musicals at the box office

• YouTube documentary channel Wait in the Wings has highlighted the stark contrast in box office figures between musical films that market themselves as “musicals” and those that don’t.
• The popularity of “secret musicals” suggests audiences do enjoy musicals, but perhaps reluctantly.
• While musical theatre has long been stereotyped as predominately enjoyed by women and gay men, Hollywood remains largely male dominated.
• However, I believe another reason lies in the “musical” label and its tendency to overpower and absorb a work’s identity.

The power of the ‘musical label’

• Perhaps this has the potential to cause lethargy for audiences, and undesirable limitations for directors who might want their work to encompass other genres.
• Mean Girls (2004) and Mean Girls the Broadway musical (2017) are two distinctly different works.
• Perhaps we must think back to The Greatest Showman (2017) and its disappointing opening weekend.
• The songs were a hit, providing great slow-burn advertising for the film, which grew in popularity with time.
• Perhaps the “secret musical” is not a dig at the genre, but a helping hand – a provocative and necessary “bold new take”.

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Jodie Passey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• LOS ANGELES, Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AARP The Magazine has unveiled the winners of the annual Movies for Grownups® (MFG) Awards with Killers of the Flower Moon taking the top honor for Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups.
• "It's been a good year for shows and movies by and for people over 50," says AARP TV and Film Critic Tim Appelo.
• In 2000, shortly before the Movies for Grownups Awards began, only one of the top ten box office stars was over 50; today, half are."
• For more than two decades, AARP The Magazine's Movies for Grownups has recognized the talent & experience of older actors and filmmakers.

• LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- PBS SoCal, Southern California's flagship PBS station, announced today the lineup for the 19th season of the Emmy® Award-winning series VARIETY STUDIO: ACTORS ON ACTORS.
• All episodes will stream on pbssocal.org following their premieres and will also be available to watch on the free PBS Video app.
• The special features both Television and Film actors as they discuss roles, auditions, directing, technique as well as diversity and representation in Hollywood.
• The 19th season of VARIETY STUDIO: ACTORS ON ACTORS will be airing on PBS stations across the nation following the premiere on PBS SoCal.