'A Few Good Men' will be adapted as live production by NBC
'Few' will be adapted by Aaron Sorkin for TV and is set to air in 2017. The 1992 Oscar-nominated movie was based on the Broadway play of the same name.
Aaron Sorkin appears in the press room at the 2016 Golden Globe Awards.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
A new live production is coming to NBC, but this one won’t have a lot of razzle-dazzle.
The network is planning to broadcast a live show of the play “A Few Good Men,” which was written by Aaron Sorking and was the basis for the acclaimed 1992 movie starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson.
The program debuted on Broadway in 1989 and actor Tom Hulce earned a nomination for the best actor in a play Tony Award for the production written by Sorkin.
Now Sorkin will be adapting the story for TV and producing the show along with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, who were executive producers for NBC’s previous live shows, including 2015’s “The Wiz Live!”
The program is set to air next year.
The past several months have for the most part been particularly good ones for the live TV production. Both “The Wiz Live!” on NBC and Fox’s “Grease: Live” were both well-received by critics and did well in the ratings. None have yet beaten NBC’s first recent foray into the genre, 2013’s “The Sound of Music Live!,” in the ratings, but “Grease” did even better in the ratings than “Wiz!,” so multiple networks have tried this and had it work.
Will “Few” find the same success?
There was certainly interest in the movie when it was released. “Few” became the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year, beating out other successes such as “Sister Act” and “A League of Their Own.”
In addition, the positive ratings for “Wiz” and “Grease,” two of the newest live productions, show that interest hasn’t waned in live productions.
However, Fox also recently aired a partially live production, “The Passion,” earlier this month. Ratings for “Passion” were far below that of “Grease.” Making a production (somewhat) live doesn’t guarantee success.
If TV viewers still remember the movie fondly, “Few” could draw viewers curious to see how a new version will be adapted.