Baz Luhrmann ‘absolutely’ wants to make a new Moulin Rouge! musical movie

He’s already produced some of the biggest movies of the last century, but Baz Luhrmann truly can’t be stopped.

Speaking at the Piccadilly Theatre in London, Luhrmann revealed he had “absolutely” considered re-adapting Moulin Rouge! into a film.

The hit show, which continues its run at the Piccadilly Theatre in London, is based on the much-loved turn-of-the-century film about a Parisian courtesan who falls in love with a writer. It starred Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. At the 74th Academy Awards it was nominated for eight Oscars, winning two.

Explaining to Getty, he said: “Do a film version of this stage evolution of Moulin Rouge!? The thought has crossed my mind. Yeah, I think we’ll see that. And the preposterous conceit about Moulin Rouge! is that the poet opens his mouth, and contemporary music that we all love comes out of it. So I can see in 20 years you recalibrating it again with new music.”

You can watch the clip below:

Baz Luhrmann reveals he's interested in adapting the stage musical of #MoulinRouge into a feature film as he visits @moulinmusicaluk on stage in London at the Piccadilly Theatre. @bazluhrmann#GettyVideo 🎥Ming Yeung 👉https://t.co/nojaRS7GvL pic.twitter.com/sqqHTDlcnO

— Getty Images Entertainment (@GettyVIP) November 24, 2023

If it happened, the trajectory would mirror that of the likes of Mean Girls, or The Color Purple, both adapted for the stage after being turned into films – before being re-adapted back to the big screen from their musical iterations.

Luhrmann continued: “I can absolutely see a film version of this version, you know. And I think because of that conceit I mentioned, when musicals work, they go forever.”

Of course, it sounds as though it’ll take a fair while for this new version to come off, but we’ve no doubt Luhrmann will make it happen. In the meantime, the stage production continue to go from strength to strength.

A stage version of Luhrmann’s hit film Elvis may also be a possibility, the director has teased.