Hollywood loves a true story. It also loves a happy ending. And more than either, thanks to Glee, it loves ideas based around singing. So you can understand why DreamWorks might snap up the chance to make a film about a capella group Straight No Chaser.
Straight No Chaser was a group founded by Dan Ponce at Indiana University in 1996, in the days when the likes of Glee and Pitch Perfect were yet to be a twinkle in their creators’ eyes. The 10 students played big venues such as Wrigley field and Carnegie Hall across the pond, and then disbanded, with the name passing on to other singers at the university.
So far, so not much of a story. But in 2006, one of the original members, Randy Stine, uploaded a 1998 video of the group singing (above) to YouTube, which caught the attention of Atlantic Records boss Craig Kallman. He called them, got the group back together, signed them to a five-album deal and helped them to Billboard chart success.
Jack Amiel and Michael Begler are the writers tasked with bringing the second-chance tale to the screen, with The Vow’s Michael Sucsy attached to direct. Let's hope they can get this one on screens before the current trend for warbling loses its voice.