‘Guys and Dolls’ Remake Laces Up Its Dancing Shoes at TriStar

Guys and Dolls remake

The popular Broadway show Guys and Dolls was adapted into a movie in 1950 with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra in the lead roles, and Hollywood has been trying to remake it for years. Now the rights have been scooped up by TriStar Pictures, who hopes to finally bring the song-filled story of gamblers and dames to the big screen once again.

The 1950 film version of Guys and Dolls tells the story of gamblers Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson. Detroit tries to run an illegal craps game without attracting the attention of the police, but in order to come up with the money he needs to host the game, he concocts a scheme to win the cash from Masterson in a bet. Masterson claims he can take any woman in town to dinner in Havana, Cuba, but Detroit picks a religious mission girl who thinks gambling is a sin. That’s the basic gist, but there are a few more little twists and turns along the way; the movie is a stylish, colorful adaptation (nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar) that allows its leads to show off their charms, making it a super breezy watch.

Variety says TriStar Pictures has bought not only the remake rights to the movie, but also the Broadway musical and the original short stories by author Damon Runyon on which the musical was based. This one’s been on Hollywood’s radar for a long time: in the early 2000s, Vin Diesel and Nicole Kidman were being sought for key roles in a remake, and then just a few years ago, real-life pals Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum were attached to star in a version from Hunger Games writer Danny Strong. That version never came together, but I’d still love to see Gordon-Levitt and Tatum play the male leads in this TriStar attempt. They’re both 38 years old now, and Sinatra was 40 and Brando was 31 in the original movie, so I don’t think they’ve completely aged out of the roles just yet.

Check out a few of the big song and dance numbers from the original musical below: