Tom Cruise and the star-studded cast of “Rock of Ages” are hoping audiences will have nothin’ but a good time at the film version of the hit Broadway show. But theatrical success is no guarantee that the movie will be a box office smash (see: “Rent”). Take a look back at how other movies based on popular Broadway shows fared in theaters.
AP
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Years after “Mamma Mia!” took over “Cats'” longtime home at the Winter Garden Theatre, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Amanda Seyfried made the movie version into a massive, worldwide hit. The $52 million film grossed more than $600 million globally.
AP
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“Dreamgirls” won six of the 13 Tony Awards it was nominated for after it first opened in 1981. More than 20 years later, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose helped the movie make $155 million worldwide.
AP photo
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“Rent” won four of the 10 Tony Awards it was nominated for in 1996, including “Best Musical,” and the highly lauded show also received that year’s Pulitzer Prize for drama. But, the big-screen version was a dud. Released by Sony in 2005, the $40 million film only earned $31.7 million at the global box office.
AP
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“The Phantom of the Opera” is the longest-running musical on Broadway. The $70 million 2004 movie version starred Gerard Butler as The Phantom and Emmy Rossum as Christine, taking in $155 million, largely due to overseas ticket sales.
REUTERS
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Catherine Zeta-Jones sings and dances on the big screen again in “Rock of Ages” after winning an Oscar for her work in the movie version of “Chicago.” The 1996 theatrical show holds the record for the longest-running musical revival on Broadway, and the $45 million movie made more than $300 million at the global box office.
REUTERS
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Madonna played Eva Peron in the 1996 movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony-winning musical “Evita.” The $55 million film made $141 million worldwide.
Buena Vista Pictures
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Six years after “Grease” hit Broadway, it became a movie that would be a hit even by today’s standards. The 1978 film was made for $6 million and grossed $395 million worldwide.
