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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/10/beach-boys-movie.html (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/10/beach-boys-movie.html)

"They've acquired the right to the Beach Boys catalogue"; What the heck does that mean?
there's no way Capitol sold it to them, That's their yearly golden goose; does BRI own "the Rights" ? 

As long as they're not "telling the members story" it sounds like it could be fun and a great $$ maker for Brian and Mike.
My only hope is they can get it filmed and released in time for the 50th anniversary.   

Forgot to add something - John Stamos is a co-producer.  :thud

Better keep the tape vault tightly secured. 

He'll probably get to sing aslong as he wants for the soundtrack. forever,  even.

In this case, "acquired rights to the Beach Boys catalogue" would mean that the film producers have been given rights (obviously for a fee) to use the music in their film, as well as subsequent video device/streaming releases.

The article says, "The film is expected to use the band's music."  What is not apparent from that statement is, does this mean the film will use the BB's original recordings, or will the main characters and/or others be performing the songs?  Could be either, or even a combination of the two, but there is a very good chance it's the latter.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Good thing the Beach Boys aren't at all popular or hip, so this will do nothing to destroy credibility for them! A silver lining, I say.

More from imdb:

http://farm.imdb.com/news/ni4660394/

Fox Wins Beach Boys Musical Bid

Wouldn’t It Be Nice? Deadline and Variety are reporting that Twentieth Century Fox have secured rights to produce a musical based on the music of The Beach Boys.

Susannah Grant (The Soloist, Erin Brockovich) will write the script not about the group, but rather “a storyline with the surf and fun prevalent in the band’s many hits.” Think Mamma Mia!.

Craig Zadan, Neil Meron and John Stamos will produce. The former duo worked on Hairspray as well as Chicago. They are currently working on the Footloose update. All three worked on the TV movie A Raisin in the Sun. I love the Beach Boys and would be down for this.

If someone like Todd Haynes was doing this film, it might have some artistic merit...but FOOTLOOSE, MAMMA MIA, fun-in-the-sun theme?

There is no possible way this can be any good!

Ooooooh F**k.
 :thud

Not even in my wildest nightmares did I think this could happen....

If Stamos is involved, this thing should be very accurate.

Edit: In case anybody thinks I'm serious, I'm not.

Hey, I'm lookin' forward to it.  Could be a very enjoyable film with some great music.  Could be so-so.  Could be a bust.  But, even if it's a bust, doubtful it could be any worse than some of the worst stuff the BBs, both as a band and individually (well, some of them individually!), have put out.

maybe, but it certainly won't help it either. from what has been said so far, they're going to be sticking to the hits. therefore, any interest in the beach boys that this movie creates will end up being an endless summer type of thing, which will just go to further cement their reputation as an oldies band who sings about girls, cars and surfing.

Hey - at least it won't be about The Beach Boys. So it'll be pretty harmless I guess.

If it's gonna be something like High School Musical set to the overdone hits of the Beach Boys, I would no doubt vomit after about 5 minutes of viewing.

I can't see me liking it. Mama Mia was cheesy enough, but Mama Mia coupled with Stamos, destroying my fave tunes... that's a rotten Camembert for sure...

Which Beach Boy should get a cameo?

This has the possibility of being great. It's going to introduce the music to a whole new fan base, create discussion amongst the core fan base, and open the doors for many more projects. I'm thinking something will happen along the lines of the movie 'Across the Universe'...I havent seen it but I have yet to hear a negative review of it...infact I know people who went to the theater to see it multiple times!

 

If it's done in the style of 'Across the Universe', I think it will appeal to most people. I've not seen it yet either but countless people have recommended it to me. And likewise, I've never heard a bad review for it. I should rent it one of these nights.

think mamma mia! or across the universe.

guys def need to chill, this sounds awesome.  def remove the elitist worries if that's possible. 

also stamos is lobbying for a beach boys Glee episode. 

i applaud stamos for once.

I do not think I would mind a Beach Boys version of Across The Universe.

But what song to name such a movie after?

We were warned!

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,8709.0.html

I would. Across the Universe was terrible. I only hope that this one has some decent acting/direction/scriptwriting.

Most of us here are guys so a BB musical is probably not our type of movie. I watched Mama Mia once with the wife and my job was done. She loved it so got the album and DVD later. Maybe this will be the same. We here will hate it but make it a chick flick and it could go nuts.

Good luck to them I say as I am not the target demographic.

how could it not be a romantic movie anyway.  will an ex be named caroline? yes?

and i didn't mind across the universe.  i enjoyed it for what it was.  but it's fun to see that they're still a viable name.  apparently there was a big bidding war for this one.  eventually a 7 digit deal won out. 

Across the Universe, although not entirely successful was made with a spiritual and arty intent. Mama mia had James Bond singing ABBA.

Across the Universe was pretty good, IMO. The song interpretaions were incredible but the melodrama was formulaic. If the musical content comes anywhere near that, it will be a treat. I don't see this being nearly as ambitious artistically. Haven't heard about the Footloose remake, but the Hairspray remake was a slick, polished product, pretty decent. Stamos' involvement does not bode very well.

Gonna need to see this movie. I've been looking for a new thing to j/o onto while puking.

The Hairspray connection brings a thought to mind...he's not known for his dramatic films, but imagine John Waters writing and directing this film. Since John Cassavetes and Vilgot Sjöman are both gone (and in my opinion the two of them alone would have had the true credentials required to bring any form of the Beach Boys' saga, biopic or otherwise, to a multiplex, I'd have to go with John Waters as the best idea to direct. Doubtful, though.

But wouldn't it be nice?

The hits will be done in a 10 minute medley, at the end. The preceding two hours will center around Summer In Paradise. The storyline: one Charlie Manson, a handsome and witty young Californian, goes diving. He meets octopus Paul. Paul gives off signs with his tentacles. Manson is an expert in marine biology. He reads the signs: he has to make a personal conversion to being a serial killer. Manson ends diving career and academic studies. He buys a lot of knives and the White Album. Curiously, his new identity attracts a whole group of lewd girls.

The Manson troupe then meets a talented musician, one D. Wilson. They make music together. Wilson gets all sexually transmittable diseases under the sun and the moon. Even his beard has many different life forms in it. Meanwhile, Manson, a movie buff, gets enormously jealous at director Roman Polanski, because he's the director Manson always secretly wanted to be.

However, since all movies have very forced good endings (esp. when a musical is on the horizon too), death and destruction is averted by the advent of a brilliant psychologist, dr. E. Landy. Landy provides all involved with endless quantities of heavy drugs. Manson writes music and lyrics for the masterpiece that the band of D. Wilson will be known for the whole wide world over: Kokomo.

Jesus Christ. You are the best poster.

Some of us, self included, might be looking at this too negatively. Chances are that if, as some are predicting, this is a hit chick-flick type thing, demand for the old hits will soar and we'll be treated to a compilation CD release of those great hits. That's something my collection is seriously short of - a compilation of Beach Boys Hits. I'm trying, but I can't think of any having been released for many years. Oh, and maybe another reissue of Live At Knebworth, CD or DVD, cos you can't have too many of those, right?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beach-Boys-Live-Knebworth-DVD/dp/B00008CR1H/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008108&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beach-Boys-Live-Knebworth-DVD/dp/B00008CR1H/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008108&sr=8-1)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-at-Knebworth-Beach-Boys/dp/B000MGBRM2/ref=sr_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008135&sr=8-2 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-at-Knebworth-Beach-Boys/dp/B000MGBRM2/ref=sr_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008135&sr=8-2)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Timin-Live-Knebworth-England/dp/B00005NTL9/ref=sr_1_4?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008154&sr=8-4 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Timin-Live-Knebworth-England/dp/B00005NTL9/ref=sr_1_4?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008154&sr=8-4)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beach-Boys-Knebworth-Vibrations-Endless/dp/B000GDIADU/ref=sr_1_6?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008175&sr=8-6 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beach-Boys-Knebworth-Vibrations-Endless/dp/B000GDIADU/ref=sr_1_6?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008175&sr=8-6)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-at-Knebworth-Beach-Boys/dp/B000FMFZCQ/ref=sr_1_7?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008194&sr=8-7 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-at-Knebworth-Beach-Boys/dp/B000FMFZCQ/ref=sr_1_7?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008194&sr=8-7)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beach-Boys-Live-Knebworth-1980/dp/B0002OVPR6/ref=sr_1_10?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008211&sr=8-10 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beach-Boys-Live-Knebworth-1980/dp/B0002OVPR6/ref=sr_1_10?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008211&sr=8-10)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-at-Knebworth-Beach-Boys/dp/B001BJAVW6/ref=sr_1_11?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008247&sr=8-11 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-at-Knebworth-Beach-Boys/dp/B001BJAVW6/ref=sr_1_11?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008247&sr=8-11)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fun-White-Collect-Beach-Boys/dp/B00318EDG0/ref=sr_1_14?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008317&sr=1-14 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fun-White-Collect-Beach-Boys/dp/B00318EDG0/ref=sr_1_14?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008317&sr=1-14)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orange-Collection-Beach-Boys/dp/B001HMJOY8/ref=sr_1_42?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008672&sr=1-42 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orange-Collection-Beach-Boys/dp/B001HMJOY8/ref=sr_1_42?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008672&sr=1-42)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Hits-Live-at-Knebwor/dp/B000FZEQPK/ref=sr_1_153?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008904&sr=1-153 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Hits-Live-at-Knebwor/dp/B000FZEQPK/ref=sr_1_153?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1286008904&sr=1-153)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-at-Knebworth-Beach-Boys/dp/B000FMFZCQ/ref=sr_1_156?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1286009035&sr=1-156 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-at-Knebworth-Beach-Boys/dp/B000FMFZCQ/ref=sr_1_156?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1286009035&sr=1-156)

I'm hoping for the story to be centered around "Hey Little Tomboy".

 :lol can I add: I Want To Pick You Up?

...and the opening sequence is going to show the main character cruising on a nice summer day singing "Lazy Lizzie" to himself.

That settles it. I think we should make a competing movie. Could be done on a shoestring budget. Who will play the 'main character'?

Don't leave out All Dresed Up for School...

If they can match this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TYb2AOqBpk

the diffrence between the letter O and the number 0 ? Let me try again...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TYb2A0qBpk

I saw a theater show build around the Beach Boys' music a few months ago. They included several lesser known songs such as 'Surf's Up', 'Til I Die', 'Vegetables', 'Don't Talk', 'Long Promised Road' and that actually made it pretty cool. Would be nice if they'd do that in the movie too.

that reminds me, is there a bossanova beach boys record? because if not, there should be.

Bravo Don! Not only does your idea for the movie sound infinitely more entertaining than what the finishing product will most likely be, but even in jest your take on the whole Manson saga is more plausible than some of the crackpot theories Bugliosi put forward.

I wish Rob Zombie would make a horror flick about Manson titled 'TIL I DIE based on more obscure BB tracks.

I'm with you.  Remember that one they did a few years ago called "Across The Universe" that basically used a lot of Beatles songs?  It's an interesting idea.  Why not? 

I never understood (rant mode) why people let other people's opinion of their cherished bands or whatever, bother them.  I couldn't give a damn less if nobody alive liked the Beach Boys, or if everybody thought they were rediculous, or whatever.  I still like them.  If this move comes out and is the worst move ever, I will still like the Beach Boys just as much. 

Across the Universe was a shitty movie whether you like the Beatles or not. It was a pastiche of Beatles songs and nothing more -- the plot was irrelevant, any acting was not even a secondary thought, the characters were ciphers, and so on -- meant to prey on people's nostalgia of the Beatles. Of course, it was phenomenally successful at doing this, but that doesn't make it a good movie. It makes it a good piece of drippy, nostalgic sentimentality -- and one that, of course, similarly tweaks the historical context of the times to fit the nostalgia accordingly.

As much as I like The Beach Boys' music, if the film ends up being like Across The Universe it will be no more worthwhile than that sad excuse for a movie.

It's because people like to argue. Whether it's people saying "the Beatles are better" or it's the person saying "it is stupid to fight over these trivial matters" or people like me who have to respond to posts like yours just for the sake of arguing - we all think our opinion matters. It's life.

And the only two things, thus far, that tick me off about this project is that there will be corny upbeat singing ruining every Beach Boys song I love (because let's face it, no matter how pissed I am at the idea of this movie, I will still watch the movie because it has my favorite band featured in it) and there will most likely be some cheesy love story as the basis of the plot.

Film Title: Never Learn Not to Love

My idea for the movie would be there's this geeky kid at high school. He's in love with a girl there but she barely notices him. He also gets picked on by the jocks as all geeks in these movies do. Before going to sleep one night he prays that his luck will change. His prayers are answered when he is visited in the night by none other than Mike Love who teaches him how to chicken dance, levitate, meditate, slap around women caught smoking and generally become hip and cool enough to win the heart of the girl he loves and give the jocks their comeuppance. There should also be a sub plot involving dastardly property dealers who are going to demolish the local rec centere unless the money can be raised to save it. The kid and Mike could go on a mission to track down the remaining Beach Boys and convince them/threaten them with legal action to reform the band for a benefit concert in aid of saving the rec centre. Also while I'm ripping off The Blues Brothers, can we have one of Mike's ex wives throughout the film trying to kill him unsuccessfully in ever increasingly outlandish ways? Yes I think we can. The movie can reach it's devastating climax by having Charles Manson breakout of prison and attempt to kill the band at the concert as revenge for unpaid royalties on "Never Learn Not to Love". However Charlie will be foiled by John Stamos when he accidentally runs him over in the parking lot while backing up his van. I definitely think J's suggestion for John Waters to direct is a good one, especially if he can force Mike to reenact the ending of "Pink Flamingo" for everyone's amusment. If any Hollywood bigwigs are reading this, I'm open to offers to write the script.

I think a better title would be Never Learn Not To (Mike) Love

you forgot to mention that the kid picks up on mike's incredibly hip style of dress
(http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/content_images/turban_love.jpg)

I honestly do not want this to happen

Stamos as Manson.  I think you've got a smash hit on your hands. 

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/143544-Zadan-Meron-and-Stamos-to-Produce-Beach-Boys-Movie-Musical

The film, which will utilize Beach Boys hits for its soundtrack, will be set in Southern California in the 1960's.



Hasn't this type of movie been done before, in like....the 60s?

I can see the update now. 'Wendy' and 'Rhonda' want to be the 'Surfer Girl' of the same guy. Gidget, Grease, Mamma Mia, Frankie and Annette all rolled into one. My wife will love it!

I'm refraining from judgment until I actually see the thing (if it ever comes to pass, that is).  As others have said, could be good, could be horrible.  If it has the effect of bringing Beach Boys music to a wider audience, ultimately that isn't so terrible a thing.

Yeah, because their 1963-66 stuff is not at all known to a wide audience. ::)

As a modern twist, the movie could end with both Wendy and Rhonda deciding they prefer Barbara Ann. Now we may be onto something I would pay to see!!!

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

Yeah baby!!!

Hmmm... a music-based movie that's not the story of the BBs. Here's a couple more plot ideas:

What about a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS), who proves hugely popular with the troops serving in South Vietnam, but infuriates his superiors with what they call his "irreverent tendency." Plays lots of the Beach Boys' music...

Or what about a coming-of-age movie:  August, 1962 – high school graduate Curt goes to the local hop, where he sees a beautiful blonde in a white 1956 Ford Thunderbird. She mouths "I love you" before disappearing and Curt spends the rest of the film searching for her. He hands DJ Wolfman Jack a message asking for the blonde to call. The next morning, Curt is awakened a phone ringing – the blonde says she might see him cruising tonight, but Curt replies that is not possible, because he will be leaving for college. As his place takes off Curt gazes out of the window and sees the blonde's T-bird heading out of town in the same direction as his plane.  Lots of Beach Boys' music plays in the background throughout.

This, in conjunction with what will undoubtedly be a well-planned and catalogue-spanning reunion, will at last dispel the notion that the band is dated, tacky and irrelevant.

A new era of fandom is nigh.

Slick covers of their early hits, replete with extra-syrupy sweet vocals and new arrangements, dancing guys and gals with melodrama oozing from every pore on their faces, FUN! glinting off their pearly whites...

........................................

I for one will be returning to the closet.  Time to go into hiding again.

nah man. this is a MUSICAL.  and you're over thinking it.  it's gonna be a romance set in the 60's in southern california. 

I'd like to play the role of Terry The Toad.

Sorry, RaWs, they're crude synopses for Good Morning Vietnam and American Grafitti, which both had Beach Boys-heavy soundtracks....

Which to my mind shows that a movie can use BBs music tastefully and needn't be a musical chick flick. Man, I HATE musicals! They're up there with Cheddar, Camembert and Wensleydale.

Hey, none of those cheeses can be as bad as Limburger. If it's as cheesy as Limburger, it'll be a total flop!

What about the Beatles' "Love" musical? If this new Beach Boys thing is as good as "Love", which is still showing in Vegas, it'll be pretty successful.

Regardless of whether or not this is a success it will mean the same thing to me:  a new reason never to tell people that I love the Beach Boys.

The new conversation touchstone won't be:  "That catalogue-spanning, well-thought reunion show was incredible!" or "Loved the SMiLE boxset!" it'll be "Oh, that Fox made-for-TV movie!".

I may be wrong but I think that "Love" is a Circe De Sole show, not a musical where the performers sing the songs.

I'm pretty sure this will be a musical in the style of Glee where they take classics and turn them into high school musical material.

I found a picture of the film in production:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Compost/13897384_01d2583cc3.jpg)

Oh yeah, yer right. The performers don't sing the songs in "Love" - it's just the original Beatles music piped in.

Sorry to take up thread space.......

I feel a caption competition coming on.

"Expert offers feedback on Santa Goes to Kokomo"…

Nice!

"John Stamos pays tribute to Dennis Wilson's 'Forever'"

Aw, c'mon!  Think positive!  If it's anything like "Across the Universe" there may be hope.  It was ok.  My girls seemed to like it.  They also liked "Mama Mia", which I wasn't crazy about only because I'm not a fan of ABBA.

Smile!  Be happy! 

Mike Love says "Yum, yum, look what's on the menu for lunch today".

New Capitol Beach Boy Compilation Hits The Streets.

But how can I smile when I know they are just going to ignore SMiLE (except for Good Vibrations) and just focus on the hits?

Yes, but let's face it - the majority of that audience is middle-aged and older.  If they could somehow make a film that would appeal to the "Gaga generation," it would be relatively new music to them, aside from a faint familiarity.

That being said, I would also hope that aside from the well-known "hits," the film would use some lesser-known material from that era and perhaps even into the early 70's.  I don't think this will be the case sadly, but it's a remote possibility at the very least.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Compost/13897384_01d2583cc3.jpg)
Tootsie Rolls chase invalid dog along street …


(sorry, it's late, I should be in bed but I'm working....)

'We made a dog listen to Summer In Paradise'

Wilson's Missing Cat Update.

Clues Found.

Too bad the Lovester's head was not available. :p

Ok, that is just brilliant  :lol

PiLE

Mikie -

there's real trouble in the air. See: the Don was born in The Netherlands, in the province indicated on the map below. Pistols, or rapiers?

(http://www.guesthouses.be/img/nederland/limburg.GIF)

"Love" isn't a musical either.  Cirque de soleil is something else entirely. 

ALSO CHEDDAR IS AWESOME.  and the best cheese for a burger. 

Good cheddar is good. Cheap cheddar is cheap.

I'm not familiar with this Glee thing that people keep mentioning, nor with High School Musical, but my 5-year-old niece is into the latter which makes me think it a product along these lines might not be for me.

Mr. Donical Heart -

Over in this Northern Fornicalia part of the U.S., if you want to piss somebody off - I mean really piss 'em off, you lift up the hood of their car when they're not around and you put a big cube of Limburger cheese on the top of the engine block. Close the hood, and when they get in and start the car, the Limburger melts and that poo permeates the entire interior of the car. It's real hard to get the smell out, even after you steam clean it off. It seems to stay in the carpet and upholstry for weeks.

After smelling that, you never want to go near Limburger cheese again, much less eat it.

Hmmm.... cheesy, but I'll let you off the hook this time. A weird sense of humour you have over there...

Yeah, almost as weird as including an extra vowel in the word "humor"!  ;D

 :lol your humour, my honour. Adds some colour to my day, and to that of my neighbour too.

Hey, let's call the whole thing off

 :lol :smokin

Is this the Pet Sounds section of the musical?

John Stamos is also trying to get a BB episode or at least a song on Glee..

I don't like how the future is shaping up  :P

I saw a promo for a Simpsons show a few weeks ago.....the Simpsons featured some of the cast from Glee and they sang a Beach Boys tune with parody lyrics....Thank God in heaven I don't remember what song it was....I just recall the parody being incredibly stupid.

Good Vibrations.

As probably one of the only people in the world who is obsessed with the Beach Boys and also watches Glee, this would actually not necessarily be a bad thing.  One of the subplots of Glee is often that they take music which has a certain reputation and seems "uncool" to the high school protagonists, and show how its relevant to their (and implicitly, the shows teenage viewers) lives.  I could easily imagine an episode of Glee along the lines of "you know how everyone thinks the Beach Boys are just fun in the sun...well actually they had intense and emotional lives" with some of the band's darker/more serious songs included. It could really bring a new generation to the Beach Boys.  Not to say they might just sing I Get Around or whatever, but its definitely possible, given the tone of the show, especially if Stamos is involved, since he actually is a big fan and must know the catalogue. 

just my two cents. 

yeah i don't see how a beach boys glee episode is anything but a good thing

I want one of the teenagers on Glee to develop a cocaine addiction and overlook the ocean while "Til I Die" plays. Maybe that wheelchair kid. Otherwise, I'm not convinced that it's relevant, nor will I be entertained.

I think they should do Roller Skating Child! ^-^ ;) ;)

This would clearly be the most appropriate venue for "Hey Little Tomboy"!

There are no appropriate venues for "Hey Little Tomboy".

Haha, I know. I hate that song too, don't worry. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about the song and it is a travesty that something like that can get released while leaving so much good things in the vaults...

You're just too far gone. Anywhere it appears is a perfect venue for the song.
Brian still thinks of himself as a young man when he's writing. This song came out. So what if they're older, it still sounds good.  I like it.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/51942/220649

John Stamos’ Beach Boys Movie to Be a ‘Celebration’‘It’s completely non-biographical,’ Stamos, who is producing, says. ‘The deal is to redo the songs with the actors singing, sort of in the way that they do on ‘Glee'

Patrick Doyle
Oct 14, 2010 7:00 PM EDT

“How do these younger generations, with the way radio is today, get turned on to great acts?,” John Stamos recently asked Rolling Stone. The actor has an answer for that:  He’ll be producing a movie musical centered around the music of the Beach Boys.


Stamos — who will share his production duties with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, as he did on the 2000 TV miniseries The Beach Boys: An American Family — has a long history with the band. Members appeared on Stamos’ first sitcom, You Again?, and also, famously, on a 1988 episode of Full House. “People say that they know Mike [Love, Beach Boys singer] from Full House more than almost anything,” Stamos says. The actor also plays drums with Mike Love’s touring version of the band.

Stamos says the film will be set in Southern California in the Sixties, but the exact time period is still to be decided. “We're sort of circling around '67,” he says. “Vietnam was looming, which sort of gives way to the background of the story, and we wanted to be able to tap into all the music that came before that. Susannah Grant (

Erin Brockovich
) will write the screenplay. 

Stamos says he doesn’t want to repeat the American Family miniseries, which, as Rob Sheffield wrote in Rolling Stone in 2000, “presents Pet Sounds as a fiasco and Mike Love as the group’s real creative brain.”

“It was so personal and some of it upset certain people,” Stamos says. “That's the last thing I want to do to my heroes, you know? That's why I thought I would never do another Beach Boys project. But this one made so much sense. All it could do is really help [them].”

Stamos will leave out the Wilson family drama and focus on the harmonies. “It’s completely non-biographical,” he says. “You might have a girl singing ‘I Get Around.’ There won’t be a guy who’s a supporter, like a Brian character. The deal is to redo the songs with the actors singing, sort of in the way that they do on Glee. They kind of keep some of the same arrangements, but to have newer, younger people singing them.”   The film is one of many special events planned for the band’s 50th anniversary. In June, Al Jardine told Rolling Stone that the remaining members — himself, Love, Brian Wilson and Bruce Johnston and possibly early guitarist David Marks — will reunite for a concert. Stamos hopes to get the film out in time to celebrate the occasion. “It'd be nice to get it out on the tail end of the 50th, [although] I think they're going to sort of celebrate the 50th for two years.”

Stamos also has a solid model for how successful a project like this can be: The film version of the Abba musical

Mamma Mia!
 was Universal Pictures’ biggest earner of 2008, both domestically and internationally. “Everybody has been sort of trying to figure out how to redo

Mamma Mia!
and also appeal to a male audience,” he says. “It made a billion dollars, but that was the smaller demographic for [Abba]. With the Beach Boys, you’ve got girls in bikinis, you’ve got cars, so we expect to get a good male demo with this.”

Don’t expect the film to echo Broadway’s Good Vibrations, a jukebox musical that closed after two months. “I walked out halfway through,” Stamos says. “It’ll be nothing like that — I promise you. It’ll be the opposite of that. Trust me.”

Did anyone here SEE the Broadway show? or the earlier off-Broadway show " Surf City  The BBs Musical" ? 
I've seen the playbills for both, and neither has a synopsis of story lines.  For that matter WAS there a story for either one? 

This is wise, and I mean it. Brian is the opposite of Bob Dylan in this respect. Dylan reflects and ruminates and contemplates on the value of life, the meaning of it, from the vantage point of an elderly man, sometimes joking, sometimes as a sage. Brian is totally different. He indeed thinks and feels like a young guy when he writes. I would say that, given his life story, he's unable to write from the viewpoint of your average artist nearing his 8th decade on the planet. But he's not 'less' for that, mind. Someone who completes SMiLE and gives us BWRG is completely his own man.

Oh, and TLOS and Love And Theft are both great reflective albums, albeit totally different ones.

+1

I want to be in this movie! I don't care how crappy, it would be so much fun LOL

This can be looked at from diffrent angles, obviously.

BUT

A. Anyone who like the Beach Boys has something in common with me.
B. If this movie gets even close to all the attention that Mama Mia has, we're looking at a big wave of Beach Boys attention around us.
C. Mama Mia and other musicals are commonly "chic flix". The greatness of The Beach Boys is mostly known by men.
E. When the movie peaks at #1 and every girl goes around humming on different Beach Boys songs... yummie :)

Hey, it's not that bad! It has its hooks, albeit the cheese factor manages to be higher than your average Bruce Johnson cut. But the original had a good melody, it was decent. Besides, the lyrics can't be as bad as "LOOOVVVVVEEEE, IS A WOOMMAAANNN" or "AND WE'LL MAKE SWEET LOVE WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, WE'LL EVEN DO MORE WHEN HER MOMMA'S NOT AROUND!"

No, it is a bad song. There is nothing redeeming about it: the lyrics are awfully heteronormative -- far more so than the average Beach Boys song, to the point where I can't easily ignore it or brush it off as youthful ignorance, and are actively offensive -- and just plain terrible; the music is entirely forgettable. The lyrics are far worse than "Love Is A Woman" or "Roller Skating Child"... although "Love Is A Woman" is a horrible song! There is nothing redeeming about any version of "Hey Little Tomboy" whatsoever.

Yeah, well don't listen. 
I like it.

And I don't. The problem, however, is that people inexplicably continue to think it's a song that is not terrible in every conceivable way. I must not be enough of a fan, I guess!

You're absolutely correct-that song is a complete turkey by all accounts-it should have self-combusted in some wasteland on another planet.

The same reason people don't hate "Don't Go Near the Water" - A decent melody and hooks. Probably the same reason why people don't completely hate MIU and 15 Big Ones

Darn those fans for liking what I don't like!  :-*

You're both wrong. It's a great song. Those People continue thinking it's not terrible, because it's not; while still other people, especially old surfer dudes, should be combusted in a wasteland on any planet( who cares as long as they're combusted) so that real music lovers don't have to be dragged down by their constant jabbering on how bad things are.

Like you're Mr. Positive around here, eh Bgas?

"Hey Little Tomboy" is a good song. It cooks with the harmonies from the Adult Child version. The limp production of the MIU version is what makes it sound bad. The chord changes are very catchy, as are the melodies. It's a reaction to fans that wanted to hear the BBs play songs like "Be True To Your School" in concerts at the time. It's just as ridiculous to want drug-addled dudes in their 30s with beards to sing songs like that.

Holy sh#t!! I wouldn't have posted that reply if I had known how clever buttgass could be! I won't mess with a 12 year old ever again-damn...

you've got to accentuate the positive....

#C is a truly unfounded statement...and you get yourself in a heap of trouble to suggest that any art form is less well understood or "known" by women.  I "get" the greatness and didn't need to either be a man nor have a doctorate.


And that (Mamma Mia) is a great movie...the key is to have a story line and script which can mesh with the music.   Those actors "put it all out there" most were - fifty and sixty somethings and made it happen!