Clint Eastwood Directing ‘Jersey Boys’ Adaptation Without Big Name Stars

Clint Eastwood already has his eyes set on directing until someone forces him to retire. Next up Eastwood has an adaptation of the Jersey Boys. Jersey Boys, which saw success as a Broadway hit, sees a group of four singers through their rise and fall. The show is loosely based on the 1960s rock n roll group The Four Seasons and it’s lead Frankie Valli. It covers the group’s success and demise.

For Eastwood this will be a very different musical adaptation that we’ve seen in years past. Although Tom Hooper gave us a very star studded adaptation of Les Miserables, Eastwood wants to give his audience a cast of unknowns to portray Frankie Valli, Gaudio,Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi.

The play featured popular hits of The Four Seasons, including Big Girls Don’t Cry, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, and December 1963 (Oh, What a Night). For Eastwood, he’s not interested in looking at film actors, and apparently wants an authentic theater experience. According to Deadline, Eastwood, who eventually replaced Jon Favreau for the Warner Bros. produced flick wants to pull the leads from former Jersey Boys performers who have toured with the show.

While it is a surprising move, considering the names Eastwood could pull out of his back pocket, Eastwood doesn’t really strike us as the type of director to play by the rules of Hollywood, or even cares that they exist. Of course bigger names would appeal for block buster buzz, and may pull in more numbers. However, if there’s anything that Eastwood represents it’s finding authenticity in whatever genre he’s directing. It seems like his Jersey Boys adaptation won’t be any different.

That said, Jersey Boys can stand on their own. The baby boomers are more than familiar with the sounds of The Four Seasons, and the show has taken in $1 billion dollars, so it’s already a solid cash cow.

Will you be seeing Eastwood’s version of Jersey Boys?