Tommy Mottola and Miramax Films are building “The Wall” on Broadway. The hit album by rockers Pink Floyd will be transformed into a Broadway musical.
“Great!” said Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters in a statement Thursday. “Now I can write in some laughs, notable by their absence in the movie.”
“The Wall,” which was turned into a semi-animated 1982 film, is a semi-autobiographical double concept album about a decadent rock star named Pink Floyd. The album churned out hit songs “Hey You,” “Mother,” “Comfortably Numb” and “Another Brick in the Wall.”
Since its release in 1979, “The Wall” has sold over 23 million copies, and is now the third best-selling album of all time.
“There are few projects as timeless as ‘The Wall,”’ said Mottola in a statement. “Even after two decades since its first release, ‘The Wall’ continues to break through every generational, socioeconomic and political boundary.”
Waters, who conceived the double album, will write the book and arrange the music for the Broadway version. Although Waters left the band in the 1980s, he retained the rights to “The Wall.”
Musicians’ libraries of songs turned into Broadway musicals isn’t new. The Who, Billy Joel, ABBA and others have achieved success in musical form on the Great White Way.