Critic's Notebook: Why 'Les Miserables' Became a Hit Movie But 'Jersey Boys' Did Not — hollywoodreporter.com

This story first appeared in the Oct. 24 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Why can the same material that's smashingly successful in one medium prove an utter flop in another? That's the perennially vexing question at the core of the sometimes thriving, other times strained relationship between Broadway and Hollywood. Some of the most beloved and frequently revisited movies of all time have their origins on the stage, and there have been times when plays, and particularly musicals, were the source of many of the most popular and prestigious films; fully half of the winners of the best picture Oscar during the 1960s came from the theater — West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, A Man for All Seasons and Oliver!

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