‘Mars Attacks!’ the Musical Is Coming to Broadway

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Well, we can’t say we saw this coming — but that’s how the aliens always get us. Tim Burton’s incredibly campy 1996 film Mars Attacks!, based on the Topps trading card line that debuted in 1962, is headed to Broadway next year to coincide with the franchise’s 50th anniversary. The big-budget musical, entitled Mars Attacks: 21st Century Slaughter, will be produced by Topps and IDW Publishing and written by Chew’s John Layman, who says,

“My approach to Mars Attacks on stage is sort of a science fiction version of West Side Story: a human and a Martian involved in a star-crossed romance, set against the backdrop of a violent interstellar war — with all of humanity caught in between! It’s going to be a rollicking good time, with songs that will make you want to get up and dance!”

Even though we had mixed feelings about Mars Attacks! at the time of its release, we think a musical might actually be the perfect medium for the film’s incredibly high schlock-factor, horrifying-but-somehow-funny mass killings, and painfully bright colors. After all, any movie title that ends in an exclamation point is just begging to be given a dance number — or seven. [via The Mary Sue]