Hairspray is a American
musical film produced by
Zadan/
Meron Productions and distributed by
New Line Cinema. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the
2002 Broadway musical of the same name, and loosely based from
John Waters's
1988 comedy film of the same name. Set in 1962
Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad as she simultaneously pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against
racial segregation.
Adapted from both Waters's 1988 script and
Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell's book for the stage musical by screenwriter
Leslie Dixon, the 2007 film version of
Hairspray is directed and choreographed by
Adam Shankman.
Hairspray features songs from the Broadway musical written by
Marc Shaiman and
Scott Wittman, as well as four new Shaiman/Wittman compositions not present in the original Broadway version.
Opening to positive reviews,
Hairspray met with financial success, breaking the record for biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical,
which the film held until July 2008 when it was surpassed by
Mamma Mia! and later
High School Musical 3: Senior Year in October.
["High School Musical" breaks record. Reuters] Hairspray went on to become the fourth highest grossing musical film in US cinema history, behind the film adaptations of
Grease,
Chicago, and
Mamma Mia!.
Available in a variety of formats,
Hairsprays Region 1 home video release took place on November 20, 2007.Hairspray
and is scheduled to debut the film on cable television in February 2010.
