# The 37 Best Broadway Musicals Adapted From Movies

> Some of these shows kept the movie's best lines and rebuilt everything else, while others turned a little-seen indie into a Tony sweep. Animated blockbusters share the stage with cult comedies and art-house imports.

*By YPB Team · Published November 10, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-37-best-broadway-musicals-adapted-from-movies*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Death Becomes Her** — score 1000/1000
   A 2024 musical based on the 1992 film about two rivals who drink an immortality potion, starring Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard.
2. **Spamalot** — score 953/1000
   Eric Idle's musical ripped off from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical.
3. **The Producers** — score 846/1000
   Mel Brooks's adaptation of his own 1967 film, which opened on Broadway in 2001 with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and won a record 12 Tony Awards.
4. **Thoroughly Modern Millie** — score 786/1000
   A musical based on the 1967 film about a small-town girl in 1920s New York, which won the 2002 Best Musical Tony and made Sutton Foster a star.
5. **A Little Night Music** — score 786/1000
   Stephen Sondheim's 1973 musical suggested by Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night, featuring the song Send In the Clowns.
6. **Priscilla Queen of the Desert** — score 718/1000
   A jukebox musical based on the 1994 Australian film about drag performers crossing the outback by bus, which opened on Broadway in 2011.
7. **Mean Girls** — score 636/1000
   Tina Fey's 2018 musical adaptation of her 2004 film about a newcomer navigating a high school clique, with music by Jeff Richmond.
8. **The Little Mermaid** — score 636/1000
   A 2008 Broadway musical based on Disney's 1989 animated film, expanding Alan Menken's score with new songs written with Glenn Slater.
9. **Little Shop of Horrors** — score 636/1000
   Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's musical based on Roger Corman's 1960 film about a man-eating plant, which reached Broadway in a 2003 production.
10. **Kinky Boots** — score 636/1000
   A 2013 musical based on the 2005 British film about a struggling shoe factory, with a Cyndi Lauper score and six Tony Awards including Best Musical.
11. **Beauty and the Beast** — score 636/1000
   Disney's first Broadway musical, adapted from its 1991 animated film, which opened in 1994 and ran for more than 13 years.
12. **42nd Street** — score 538/1000
   A 1980 musical adapted from the 1933 Warner Bros. film (itself based on Bradford Ropes's novel) about a chorus girl who replaces an injured star, winner of the 1981 Tony Award for Best Musical.
13. **Moulin Rouge!** — score 538/1000
   A 2019 jukebox musical based on Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film, winner of ten Tony Awards including Best Musical.
14. **Anastasia** — score 538/1000
   A 2017 Ahrens and Flaherty musical inspired by the 1997 animated film and the 1956 film about a woman who may be a Romanov grand duchess.
15. **Promises, Promises** — score 538/1000
   A 1968 Burt Bacharach and Hal David musical with a Neil Simon book, based on Billy Wilder's 1960 film The Apartment.
16. **Hairspray** — score 538/1000
   A 2002 musical based on John Waters's 1988 film about 1960s Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical.
17. **Once** — score 538/1000
   An adaptation of the 2007 Irish film about a Dublin street musician, in which the actors play their own instruments; it won eight Tonys including Best Musical in 2012.
18. **Tootsie** — score 538/1000
   A 2019 musical based on the 1982 Dustin Hoffman film about an actor posing as a woman, for which Santino Fontana won a Tony.
19. **The Lion King** — score 418/1000
   Disney's 1994 animated film staged by Julie Taymor with puppets and masks, opening on Broadway in 1997 and winning six Tony Awards including Best Musical.
20. **Aladdin** — score 418/1000
   A 2014 Broadway adaptation of Disney's 1992 animated film, for which James Monroe Iglehart won a Tony Award as the Genie.
21. **Frozen** — score 418/1000
   Disney's 2018 Broadway version of its 2013 animated film about sisters Elsa and Anna, adding new songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
22. **Grey Gardens** — score 418/1000
   A 2006 musical based on the Maysles brothers' 1975 documentary about Big Edie and Little Edie Beale, for which Christine Ebersole won a Tony.
23. **The Wedding Singer** — score 418/1000
   A 2006 musical based on the 1998 Adam Sandler film about a 1980s wedding singer left at the altar.
24. **Shenandoah** — score 418/1000
   A 1975 musical based on the 1965 James Stewart film about a Virginia farmer during the Civil War, for which John Cullum won a Tony.
25. **Sweet Charity** — score 418/1000
   A 1966 musical directed by Bob Fosse and based on Federico Fellini's film Nights of Cabiria, featuring the songs Big Spender and If My Friends Could See Me Now.
26. **Back to the Future** — score 418/1000
   A 2023 Broadway musical based on the 1985 time-travel film, which won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in London.
27. **Waitress** — score 418/1000
   A 2016 musical with a Sara Bareilles score based on Adrienne Shelly's 2007 film about a pie-baking diner waitress.
28. **Nine** — score 418/1000
   Maury Yeston's 1982 musical based on Federico Fellini's film 8 1/2 about a blocked film director, which won the Tony for Best Musical.
29. **Sunset Boulevard** — score 0/1000
   Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of Billy Wilder's 1950 film about faded star Norma Desmond, which won the 1995 Tony for Best Musical.
30. **The Band's Visit** — score 0/1000
   David Yazbek and Itamar Moses's musical based on the 2007 Israeli film about an Egyptian police band stranded in a desert town, winner of ten Tonys in 2018.
31. **School of Rock** — score 0/1000
   Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2015 musical based on the 2003 Jack Black film, in which the child cast plays its instruments live.
32. **Beetlejuice** — score 0/1000
   A 2019 musical based on Tim Burton's 1988 film about a bio-exorcist ghost, which returned to Broadway in 2022 after closing during the pandemic.
33. **Billy Elliot** — score 0/1000
   A musical with an Elton John score based on the 2000 film about a miner's son who wants to dance ballet, winner of ten Tony Awards in 2009.
34. **Sister Act** — score 0/1000
   An Alan Menken musical based on the 1992 film about a lounge singer hiding in a convent, which opened on Broadway in 2011.
35. **Groundhog Day** — score 0/1000
   Tim Minchin and Danny Rubin's 2017 musical based on the 1993 film about a weatherman reliving the same day in Punxsutawney.
36. **Some Like It Hot** — score 0/1000
   A 2022 musical based on Billy Wilder's 1959 film, winner of four Tony Awards including one for J. Harrison Ghee.
37. **Newsies** — score 0/1000
   A 2012 musical based on Disney's 1992 film about the 1899 New York newsboys' strike, which won Tonys for its score and choreography.

Tags: movies, theater, broadway, musicals, adaptations