Tiffany Engen

Hairspray is a 2007 musical romantic comedy film based on the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John Waters 1988 comedy film of the same name. The film is a British-American venture produced by Ingenious Media and Zadan/Meron Productions. Adapted from both Waterss 1988 script and Thomas Meehan and Mark ODonnells book for the stage musical by screenwriter Leslie Dixon, the 2007 film version of Hairspray was directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman and has an ensemble cast including John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney and Nikki Blonsky in her feature film debut. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation.The film began development in 2004, and Dixon reworked Meehan and ODonnells first draft of the screenplay to tone down the musicals campiness. In 2005, Shankman agreed to direct the film. Composer/lyricist Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman reworked their songs from the Broadway musical for the films soundtrack, and also wrote four new songs for the film. Principal photography commenced in September 2006 and ended in December of that year; filming took place on locations in Toronto, Ontario and Hamilton, Ontario in Canada and on soundstages at Torontos Showline Studios. Recording sessions for the films songs and soundtrack took place in Los Angeles, California in the United States.Hairspray premiered on July 13, 2007 at the Mann Village Theater and was released on July 20, 2007 in the United States. The film was a critical and financial success, breaking the record for biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical, which the film held until July 2008 when it was surpassed by Mamma Mia! and later High School Musical 3: Senior Year in October. Hairspray went on to become the sixth highest grossing musical film in US cinema history, behind the film adaptations of Grease, Chicago, and Mamma Mia!, and stands as one of the most critically and commercially successful musical films of the last decade. Available in a variety of formats, Hairspray s Region 1 home video release took place on November 20, 2007. USA Network purchased the broadcast rights to Hairspray and was scheduled to debut the film on cable television in February 2010, but in the end it did not broadcast that month, instead the film was pushed back and premiered on USA on July 24, 2010, with sister channel Bravo also showing it multiple times, and in February 2011 aired on ABC for over-the-air broadcasts.

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