Kiss of the Spider Woman fans know that the Broadway musical was a big deal back in its day: In 1993, it won a slew of Tony Awards, including Best Musical Score and Best Original Score. Now, more than 30 years later, the story is hitting the big screen via a Jennifer Lopez-led film adaptation.
The film was a hit earlier this year at Sundance, where the Associated Press reports that the audience broke out “in spontaneous applause” at its premiere. They also got the best possible candidate to mourn the film: Bill Condon, who directed and wrote the screenplay. He has a superlative track record when it comes to Broadway-to-film adaptations, as he was behind the scripts for both Dreamgirls and Chicago .
As Kiss of the Spider Woman approaches theatrical release, continue below to learn everything you need to know about the film.
Plot
We already know the main plot of this one, as the film is based on the musical, which itself is based on Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel. It centers on the imagined films of Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser serving an eight-year sentence in Argentina in 1981. His stories star Ingrid Luna, an actress who plays the “Spider Woman” whose signature killer is using a kiss to kill her victims. Molina also forges a deep and unexpected connection when another prisoner is brought into his cell.
In an interview with Variety Lopez said about the film:
“It’s about two different people who come together and find the humanity in each other and fall in love. To me, that’s something special and needs to be seen. We’re all just human. It’s an important film in that way.”
Cast
In addition to Lopez, the cast includes Diego Luna, Tonatiuh Elizarraz, Tony Dovolani, Josefina Scaglione, Bruno Bichir, Aline Mayagoitia and Lynn Favin.
Lopez told Variety “I’ve been waiting my whole life to be able to do a big MGM Hollywood musical, and I finally got to do it. It was more [than I hoped]. Me and Diego were on set and we’re dancing and we’re singing and looking at each other, and it’s like we don’t want to do anything else but musicals. Diego said so! Me too. I don’t want to do anything else.”
Release date
The film is scheduled to hit theaters on October 10.
Trailer
Check out the Kiss of the Spider Woman trailer below.
