Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind The Making Of “Dreamgirls”

7. Long time Coming

If the “Dreamgirls” musical came out in the early 1981, why did it take over two decades to get the film on screen? Here’s the short version of all the pitfalls along the way. Michael Bennett, who was the stage director for the musical passed away in 1987, leaving the rights to the production to co-financier David Geffen. Geffen was very protective of the work, not wanting anyone to work on the project and ruin Bennett’s vision.

In the ’90’s perhaps Geffen was ready to try. After the success of the musical biopic, What’s Love Got To Do With With It, screenwriter Tina Andrews and director Joel Schumacher were going to tackle the film adaptation. But shortly after What’s Love, Tina wrote and released Why Do Fools Fall in Love, which didn’t do so well in theaters. After that, the studios weren’t too sure about Andrews and decided to shelve the project again.

The show was finally greenlit sometime around 2002. Bill Condon, who had written the screenplay for Chicago, met producer Laurence Mark at a Hollywood party in 2002 and the two chatted about the project.  Eventually they met with David Geffen who convinced Bill Condon to write and direct the version we all know today.