John Waters to Apply Another Blast of ‘Hairspray

Variety are reporting that John Waters has been hired to write a sequel to Hairspray.

The trade says helmer Adam Shankman will return to direct a second outing.

Shankman told Variety: “I never thought of musicals as franchises, but it certainly worked with High School Musical, and the idea of working with that cast again, and creating new material and music, is a dream come true.

He added:

“John (Waters) has such an original and extraordinary voice; we all can’t wait to see what he has come up with.”

Waters directed the original 1988 movie. Since then the film has been turned into a massive stage show musical with current productions based in both New York and London.

Depp rules out more musical roles

Johnny Depp has ruled out starring in any more musicals following his role in new movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

The 44-year-old sings for the first time onscreen as a murderous barber in the Tim Burton film, which won two awards at Sunday’s Golden Globes.

He appeared in John Waters’ musical Cry-Baby early in his career, but said it “was only half of me” because his voice was dubbed.

The actor said: “Tim’s the only person brave enough to let me try to sing. It was the first time I’d sung. I’d never even sung in the shower, I’d be too mortified.”

He added that the experience was “kind of enjoyable” when he had overcome his initial fear, saying: “[Composer] Stephen Sondheim’s melodies and lyrics were a real pleasure to chop around in, there was some really beautiful stuff.”

However, when asked if he would consider lending his vocal talents to another musical, he responded: “No.”

Depp recently revealed that he would like to perform a duet with Barry Manilow.