Elton John to turn Devil Wears Prada into musical

Play will be based on hit 2006 film starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep

British pop icon Elton John announced his return to Broadway on Thursday, this time with a musical adaptation of the 2006 blockbuster film and novel The Devil Wears Prada.

John will write the music, with the lyrics to be penned by Paul Rudnick, a humourist who frequently writes for The New Yorker. "Re-imagining The Devil Wears Prada for the musical theatre is super exciting," John said in a statement, adding that the production timeline will be announced later. "I'm a huge fan of both the book and the feature film, and a huge aficionado of the fashion world. I can't wait to sink my musical teeth into this hunk of popular culture."



While Broadway is a notoriously tough terrain even for famous names, John has a proven record of triumph with musicals. The Lion King, his musical adaptation of the Disney animated film, set the record as the first show to gross $1 billion on Broadway, where it remains the third longest-running show in history. The singer has also found success with a musical adaptation of Verdi's opera Aida, as well as Billy Elliot the Musical, which closed last year after a successful run on London's West End.

Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway starred in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada about an all-powerful fashion magazine editor who tyrannically imposes her will on an ambitious young editorial assistant. A major international box-office success, the film was based on the popular novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger. The author formerly worked for longtime Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, although she has never confirmed that Wintour was the inspiration.

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