Flight of the Conchords Musical Is Coming

The upcoming Flight of the Conchords movie is shaping up to be a musical like no other, co-creator Jemaine Clement has promised – albeit tentatively. The film is “definitely a couple of years away, at least”, Clement said, but it is likely to take the form of a modern musical, something he has wanted to create for some time.

“The music in musicals is always, you know – musicaaaal,” he says, affecting the tonal equivalent of jazz hands over the phone from his hometown of Wellington. “It’s always so old-fashioned, and it’s so specific to one audience. I feel like people who like music often don’t like musicals.

“The idea that Bret [McKenzie] and I have been talking about … would be a musical that doesn’t have that old-fashioned, ‘musical’ feel.”

For now though, the film is on the back burner as Clement juggles other projects.

As well as starring in indie comedy People, Places, Things, Clement is also working on Uncle Bertie’s Botanarium, a comedy radio play for the digital comedy network Earwolf.

He is also working on an HBO miniseries with Judd Apatow and his long-time collaborator, Taika Waititi, with whom he made the acclaimed 2014 vampire comedy What We Do In the Shadows. Filming will begin early next year. “It’s an anthology series – every episode’s a different story.”

Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s novel The BFG, in which Clement reportedly plays a giant using motion capture, is set for release in 2016. “We’ve filmed that so that one, at least, is definitely going to happen,” Clement said.

Original article by Elle Hunt, The Guardian, September 2, 2015.

Photo by Madman film distributors.