Way back in the 1960’s, Roger “The Pope of Pop Cinema” Corman directed a cheesy little B movie called The Little Shop of Horrors. The movie quickly gained popularity for its twisted humor and, to this day, is considered one of Corman’s greatest films. Eventually The Little Shop of Horrors was adapted into a beloved stage musical called Little Shop of Horrors, with music written by the great Alan Menken.
The musical’s plot follows a meek man named Seymour, who works at a flower shop on Skid Row. Seymour is in love with his coworker- a sweet woman named Audrey, who returns his affections- but she’s sadly caught in an abusive relationship with a sadistic dentist who gets off on causing people pain. However, Seymour’s life completely changes when he discovers a mysterious Venus-flytrap like plant that he names Audrey II. Audrey II is revealed to be sentient and capable of speech, with the plant promising to make Seymour rich in exchange for feeding it human flesh.
It wasn’t long before the stage musical was adapted into the 1986 movie Little Shop of Horrors. Directed by the legendary Frank Oz, it starred Rick Moranis as Seymour, Steve Martin as Orin the sadistic dentist, Ellen Greene as Audrey, Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II, and Bill Murray in small, but memorable, part as a masochistic dental patient. The movie is famous for having a different ending than the musical. Apparently the movie was originally supposed to end the same way as the musical, but Oz quickly changed the ending after test audiences responded to it negatively.
Now, according to Empire, another movie adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors is in the works, with Taron Egerton potentially being considered for role. Should Egerton join the movie’s cast, he would probably play Seymour, having already proven his singing abilities in Sing and Rocketman. Likewise, ScreenGeek claims that Scarlett Johansson has been offered the role of Audrey and Billy Porter will be voicing Audrey II. Greg Berlanti will be directing the remake, but it’s unknown if this movie will follow the original stage show ending or use Oz’s ending instead.
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