Filmmakers Want "Rent" Actors to Return for the Big Screen Adaptation

It looks like "Rent" the movie will remain very, very true to "Rent" the Broadway musical, at least as far as the casting process goes. "Rent" filmmakers are hoping to reunite a large part of the original cast - Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Jesse Martin, Anthony Rapp, and Adam Pascal - for the movie version of Jonathan Larson's hit play.

According to Variety, the filmmakers are so set on signing the original cast they are willing to work around the actors' schedules. This could mean their planned 2005 release date may be in jeopardy.

Chris Columbus is working on the script and will direct the movie. "Rent" is an updated version of "La Boheme" set in New York's East Village. The story features junkies, drag queens, performance artists, and people who suffer from AIDS. Larson passed on before his musical, which went on to become a multiple Tony Award-winner, began its run.

SOURCE: Variety