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Stephen Adly Guirgis Will Pen Script for Dog Day Afternoon on B’way
Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis will adapt the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon for the stage. The Broadway-aimed show is being developed by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, the production company behind this season’s Misery and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and is slated for a 2017 Main Stem bow.
Guirgis won the Pulitzer Prize last year for his play Between Riverside and Crazy, which played off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company and Second Stage in 2014 and 2015, respectively. His additional works include Our Lady of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped the 'A’ Train and The Motherf**ker with the Hat, for which he received a Tony nomination in 2011.
The original movie starred Al Pacino and John Cazale as Sonny and Sal, a pair of first-time bank robbers. After their plan derails, the two hold the bank employees hostage while negotiating with a police detective and FBI agent. Secrets and motives are revealed as the two attempt an escape around a media circus. Frank Pierson won an Oscar for the screenplay; it received five additional nominations, including nods for Best Picture and for Pacino.
Warner Bros.’ additional upcoming theater projects include a musical adaptation of the White House comedy Dave, featuring a score by Tom Kitt and Nell Benjamin, as well as Beetlejuice and 17 Again.