The Book of Mormon: The Movie?

Well, this could fit in nicely with the upcoming movie version of Les Miserables.

Probably not, but I would definitely see it anyway.  Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the now Tony-winning duo of Trey Parker and Matt Stone (along with composer Robert Lopez, also a Tony winner) are indeed planning a movie version of their megahit Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon. 

When will that happen?  Eh...eventually.  According to the EW article, Parker and Stone are content to let the show, which won 9 Tony Awards (including Best Musical) back in June, continue playing to sold out houses in NY for a while longer and tour for a bit before we see a movie.  Makes sense, considering tickets for the show are currently sold out well into next year, with the first national tour kicking off in Denver next summer.  There's certainly no rush to put out a movie version that's actually easy to get tickets to when people are paying upwards of $300 a ticket to see it now.

But will it work as a movie?  That could get interesting.  The musical, which is about teenage Mormons who get in way over their heads when they are sent to a war-torn village in Uganda to do their missionary work, was insanely funny.  However it's also as foul-mouthed as anything you'd expect to see from South Park's Parker and Stone.  For instance, although it's a made-up phrase, the song "Hasa Diga Eebowai" translates to "F*** you, God!" in English, much to the horror of the young missionaries, who originally thought they were learning a new version of "Hakuna Matata".  They also eviscerate all forms of organized religion, reference Star Wars characters in ways that even George Lucas couldn't have dreamed of, they set dysentery to music, and the show includes what might be the first (and likely last) time Jesus and Jeffrey Dahmer ever perform onstage together.

So you can see where they might run into a few problems.  Yet, to everyone's surprise, the stage version has been a hit with audiences of all ages (hell, even my parents have tickets for it), and, since lightning hasn't struck the theater yet, I'm guessing even God has a sense of humor about those "Hasa Diga Eebowai" t-shirts being sold in the lobby.  Believe it or not, The Book of Mormon is actually a very sweet show (seriously, it is!), and it's probably one of the best new musicals I've seen in ages.

We'll check back in a few years to see if the world is ready for a Book of Mormon movie.  In the meantime, you can enjoy Andrew Rannells'  hilarious Tony performance of "I Believe", which was one of my favorite songs in the show: