Um. Yes. As someone who has seen “Jersey Boys” live and listened to the soundtrack a million times (including this morning on the way to work), this news is incredibly exciting. Christopher Walken is set to join the cast of Clint Eastwood’s big screen adaptation of the hit musical, according to Deadline. Walken will play Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo.
“Jersey Boys” follows the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. The group, which includes Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, rose from blue-collar boys on the wrong side of tracks to one of the biggest American pop sensations of all time. They wrote all their own songs, invented their own sides, and ended up selling over 175 million records worldwide before they were thirty years old.
The screenplay for the film is being written by John Logan, a two-time Academy Award-nominated writer. GK Films’ Graham King and Tim Headington are producing with Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio serving as executive producers.
The feature film will be using much of the same music and lyrics in the stage play that features their beloved hit songs “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Rag Doll,” “Oh What a Night” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” just to name a few.
No word yet on when the adaptation will begin production or who else is expected to star in the main roles. More information should be released over the next few weeks.
Both new viewers and fans of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons will get to watch them learn to “Walk Like A Man” all over again. Get it? That was a bad joke and I am ashamed (though still excited about this movie!)
