Jackman To Make Sweet Music

It takes a peculiar degree of confidence for some men to admit to a taste for singing and dancing. Most Hollywood hard men would run a mile rather than sing about how pleasant the weather is, or how terribly pretty their gal is looking today. But now Hugh Jackman is set to join the elite ranks of the men so tough they can afford to look just a little bit camp, with the news that he has signed a deal with Disney to produce and possibly star in a series of theatrical musicals on the big screen. Apparently Disney executives saw Jackman's Tony Award-winning performance in The Boy From Oz on the Broadway stage earlier this year, which persuaded them that here was a man with his finger on the musical pulse. Jackman had already starred in Oklahoma! and Beauty and the Beast, among others, before he hit the big screen big time. In returning to musicals, he follows in the illustrious footsteps of the late, great Marlon Brando (Guys and Dolls) and even the toughest tough guy of all, Clint Eastwood (Paint Your Wagon). Jackman himself is currently filming Darren Aronofsky's long-awaited The Fountain, but spoke to Variety about the deal. "As an art form, the musical is Mount Everest. Tough to pull off, but exhilarating and timeless when it works. And when it is done badly, it stinks to high heaven." Let's hope that he manages to scale the heights of the musical form. Jackman is planning to adapt musicals that have not previously been filmed, rather than remaking those that have, so start lobbying for your favourite film now. And Hugh, have we mentioned that our oft-mooted (on these pages at least) project IRA Zombies would work really well as a musical? From the love song, "Ode To An Undead Love" to the rousing finale "Decommissioning In The Rain", this could be just the thing? Mr Jackman? Hugh? Anybody?