By Adam Hetrick
21 Oct 2009

Miss Saigon artwork

Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's epic Vietnam musical Miss Saigon is in early stages of development to become a major motion picture.

Variety reports that Paula Wagner, who is also in negotiations to create a Broadway musical based on the rap group Run-DMC, is working with Miss Saigon's original stage producer Cameron Mackintosh to create a film adaptation of the Tony-nominated property.

Director and producer Lee Daniels ("Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" and "Monster's Ball") has mentioned Miss Saigon as a possibility for his upcoming directorial projects.

Those behind the project are hoping to begin production next year with a 2011 theatrical release. A screenwriter is currently being secured.

Les Miserables songwriters Schönberg and Boublil collaborated with Richard Maltby, Jr. on the 1989 musical Miss Saigon, which took inspiration from the Puccini opera Madama Butterfly. Set during the fall of Vietnam, the musical centers on an American G.I. and a young Vietnamese prostitute who fall in love against the backdrop of the war. When Saigon falls and the Americans pull out, the young woman is left behind.

Miss Saigon premiered on Broadway in 1991, earning Tony nominations for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score and earned Tony Awards for Best Actor (Jonathan Pryce), Best Actress (Lea Salonga) and Best Featured Actor (Hinton Battle).

The announcement of Miss Saigon's screen debut comes days after the Daily Mail reported that Mackintosh was also at work on a film incarnation of the global hit musical Les Miserables. London-based Working Title films and Eric Fellner are on board to bring Les Miserables for the project that would not begin production until 2011 or 2012.