Chance the Rapper and MGM to Develop Movie Musical 'Hope'

MGM announced on Tuesday that it has acquired the rights to develop a movie musical called “Hope” with musician and actor Chance the Rapper.

Told through original music to be created by Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Nico Segal and his collaborators, “Hope” will follow a group of Chicago teenagers that band together to turn art into action within their community.

Chance, a three time Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and producer has also made a name for himself as a prominent social activist, especially in his home city of Chicago, launching #SaveChicago with his father to combat gun violence; donating $1 million to local schools; and creating Social Works, an organization aimed at empowering youth through arts, education and civic engagement within the city.

Also Read: MGM Partners With Lantern Entertainment to Develop, Distribute 'Boys in the Boat'

Chance and his longtime manager Haight Films’ Pat Corcoran partnered with Tradecraft’s Scott Bernstein (“Straight Outta Compton”) for the project. Carlito Rodriguez (“Empire,” “The Leftovers”) will pen the original screenplay.

“Chance and Nico are undoubtedly two of the most influential and innovative artists of their generation,” said MGM Motion Pictures President Jonathan Glickman in a statement. “We feel thrilled, privileged, and eager to be collaborating with them on such a unique project.”

Ash Sarohia will oversee the project for Tradecraft and Mike Kadziulis, M.E. Barker and Scott Schwartz will oversee for Haight Films. Glickman and Adam Rosenberg, MGM’s Co-President of Production, are overseeing the project on behalf of the studio.

Also Read: Anthony Ramos Set to Star in Warner Bros Adaptation of Broadway Hit 'In the Heights'

The deal was brokered by UTA and Eric Sherman at Ziffren.

“From day one, our mission at Haight Films’ has been to apply Haight Brand’s artist-first and Chicago-proud ideology to the film space,” Corcoran said in a statement. “We are incredibly excited to be working alongside Chance, MGM and Scott Bernstein to bring this vision to life.”

Earlier this year, Chance starred in his debut feature film “Slice,” a whodunit horror-comedy in a world where humans, ghosts, ghouls, witches and werewolves live side-by-side, for A24

Chance is repped by CAA.

Also Read: 'Slice' Is a 'Drunkenly Scribbled' Horror Comedy About Prejudice, and Gentrification

MGM is releasing its much-anticipated “Creed” sequel starring Michael B. Jordan and Oscar-nominee Sylvester Stallone on Nov. 21. The studio also has coming up “Fighting with My Family,” a comedy-drama written and directed by Stephen Merchant and starring Florence Pugh, Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Vince Vaughn and Dwayne Johnson.

The Highest Grossing Movie Musicals of All Time, From 'Grease' to 'La La Land' (Photos)

Who said the musical is dead? The last few years have produced box office hits out of film adaptations of Broadway smashes, original movie musicals and a few, beloved, all-time classics. "In the Heights" based on Lin-Manuel Miranda's stage musical hopes to be the next big hit. It opens Friday in theaters and on HBO Max. Here are the highest grossing live-action movie musicals of all time based on their worldwide box office gross (all figures courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo).
17. "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) - $282.4 million

John Travolta perfectly embodies the disco era in this famed film, which received an original R rating before being edited to a PG rating in 1979.
Paramount Pictures
16. "The Sound of Music" (1965) - $286.4 million

This classic musical film received high accolades at the Academy Awards by winning both Best Picture and Best Director for Robert Wise — and even beat out "Gone With the Wind" for highest grossing film at the time.
Twentieth Century Fox
15. "Pitch Perfect 2" (2015) - $287.5 million

The second film in the "Pitch Perfect" series added newcomer Hailee Steinfield to the ensemble, and it managed to surpass the total gross of the original film in just five days.
Universal
14. "Chicago" (2002) - $306.8 million

Rob Marshall's "Chicago" won six Oscars, including Best Picture, and helped launch the genre's revival on the big screen this century.
Miramax
13. "Enchanted" (2007) - $340.5 million

The movie that made Amy Adams a star is finally getting a long-awaited sequel, the announced "Disenchanted," slated to premiere on Disney+ in 2022.
Disney
12. "Mary Poppins Returns" (2018) - $349.5 million

As a sequel to the 1964 "Mary Poppins" starring Emily Blunt as the iconic nanny, the film features cameos from Lin-Manual Miranda and original cast member Dick Van Dyke (though not Julie Andrews), and it received four Academy Award nominations.
Disney
11. "Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!" (2018) - $394.7 million

The long-awaited sequel to "Mamma Mia" adds three more ABBA songs to the film's franchise as Lily James took on the role of young Donna in this time-jumping film.
Universal
10. "Grease" (1978) - $396.2 million

Though its box office total is inflated somewhat by a re-release, "Grease" still holds up not just as one of the best musicals of the last 40 years but also the most successful (certainly given inflation).
Paramount Pictures
9. "A Star is Born" (2018) - $434.9 million

The fourth filmed version of the Hollywood classic, "A Star is Born," grossed $434.9 million and earned the film eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Bradley Cooper and Best Actress for Lady Gaga -- not to mention the killer song “Shallow.”
Warner Bros.
8. "The Greatest Showman" (2017) - $438 million

Hugh Jackman's factually loose biopic about the life of P.T. Barnum and the formation of the circus had a rough opening weekend at the box office, grossing just $8.8 million domestic. But it grew over time and catapulted to success on the heels of its Oscar-nominated song "This is Me" by the "La La Land" songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
NIko Tavernise/20th Century Fox
7. "Les Misérables" (2012) - $441.8 million

Tom Hooper followed up his Best Picture-winning "The King's Speech" with this lavish and dizzying musical that won Anne Hathaway an Oscar before returning back to the Broadway musical world for "Cats," the film version of which didn't do nearly as well.
Fox
6. "La La Land" (2016) - $446.1 million

The almost-Best Picture winner from Damien Chazelle was also runner-up as the highest grossing Best Picture nominee of 2016, falling behind "Hidden Figures."
Lionsgate
5. "Mamma Mia!" (2008) - $609.9 million

The first "Mamma Mia!" film, an adaptation of the stage hit featuring the songs of ABBA, made a whopping $144 million in its first weekend despite opening alongside "The Dark Knight."
Universal
4. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018) - $903.6 million

The biopic of Queen became a wide success given its humble budget of about $50 million, earning star Rami Malek an Academy Award for Best Actor and the film an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
20th Century Fox
3. "Aladdin" (2019) - $1.0 billion

The live-action adaptation of "Aladdin," which features Will Smith's rendition of the genie, surpassed $1 billion, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2019.
Disney
2. "Beauty and the Beast" (2017) - $1.3 billion

Disney struck gold with its live-action adaptation of the animated hit "Beauty and the Beast," lovingly recreated to minute detail by director Bill Condon with a cast led by Harry Potter alum Emma Watson.
Disney
1. "The Lion King" (2019) - $1.6 billion

This Disney live-action remake (and we can debate whether the CGI jungle animals are really "live-action") was a global smash and features voice talent from stars Donald Glover, Seth Rogen and Beyoncé, who even curated an album to go along with the film, "The Lion King: The Gift."
Walt Disney

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Can ”In the Heights“ reach the box office heights of these classics?

Who said the musical is dead? The last few years have produced box office hits out of film adaptations of Broadway smashes, original movie musicals and a few, beloved, all-time classics. "In the Heights" based on Lin-Manuel Miranda's stage musical hopes to be the next big hit. It opens Friday in theaters and on HBO Max. Here are the highest grossing live-action movie musicals of all time based on their worldwide box office gross (all figures courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo).

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The Highest Grossing Movie Musicals of All Time, From 'Grease' to 'La La Land' (Photos)

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